Brown looks back on difficult McLaren period: 'We were almost bankrupt'
F1 News
- Savannah Lenz
Speaking to The New York Times, McLaren CEO Zak Brown reflected on some dark times in the constructor's rich history. When the team almost went bankrupt. He spoke on how he tried to shield the employees from the news surrounding the team's financial issues during their crisis in 2020.
In 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, McLaren was struggling financially. McLaren had to make around 1,200 people redundant during that time to stay afloat. 70 of which were a part of the Formula 1 side of the company. Brown worked hard to make sure the news coverage did not affect the workers at the woking based factory.
Brown looks back on difficult McLaren period
"But we were months away, and not several months, from … We knew we could make it through the year." He continued, “I needed to protect the team from them being aware so everyone could remain in the very positive, energetic spirits they were bringing because the team was progressing nicely. It wasn’t a comfortable place at all." the CEO explained about their struggles during 2020.
Fortunately for the team, McLaren received a financial injection, which allowed it all to continue. Without that, they would have never made it to 2024, where they once again brought home the constructors championship trophy. “I could put my head on a pillow at night knowing they would back us up if they have to,” He concluded that the team would have needed to be out of chances to get that. “But it was going to be the ninth innings, to use a baseball term, before they brought in the relief pitcher."
This article was written in collaboration with Esteban den Toom.
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