“I’d love to see him end his career here” – Zak Brown on why McLaren moved to tie Lando down

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has opened up on his relationship with Lando and explained why, following the reigning World Champion’s contract extension, he would love to see the British driver finish his career with the team.

Zak and Lando first met more than 10 years ago, before either had joined McLaren. Lando, then in his early teens, had recently transitioned from go-karts to cars, while Zak was running JMI, the sports marketing agency he had founded earlier in his career.

The pair hit it off and later became colleagues when Zak joined McLaren as Executive Director in 2017. Less than two months later, he signed the then 17-year-old Lando as a Test and Simulator Driver.

Lando became the latest graduate of the team’s esteemed Driver Development Programme when he stepped up to a full-time Formula 1 seat in 2019. By then, Zak had been elevated to CEO of McLaren Racing.

“We were just discussing this,” Zak says. “I first met Lando in 2014 when he was racing in the Ginetta Junior Championship, and then we really started to develop a friendship from 2016, when he was in Formula Renault. I actually introduced him to Ron Dennis, before I had joined McLaren, so me and Lando effectively entered the team at the same time.

“We always had this dream of ‘wouldn’t it be cool to win the World Championship together’, and I don’t know what the odds are of that happening, but it has got to be 0.00001% or something like that. For that to be realised together at McLaren is a dream come true.”

Last season, Lando became McLaren’s first Drivers’ World Champion since Lewis Hamilton – another homegrown talent – as the team completed its remarkable ascent from ninth in the Constructors’ standings in 2017, the year Lando joined the team’s Driver Development Programme. His triumph followed McLaren’s second consecutive Constructors’ Championship, secured with a record-equalling six rounds remaining.

Over the past nine years, Zak has watched Lando develop from an exciting but unproven young talent into a podium finisher, Polesitter, multiple Grand Prix winner and one of the fastest, most consistent drivers on the grid. Away from the track, he has also emerged as one of F1’s most popular personalities.

“In every aspect, he has matured into a World Champion,” says Zak. “He is unbelievably fast, but he always has been - he has grown up at McLaren. He is a lot of fun, he is fast, he’s mature… he’s every bit a World Champion driver.”

With Lando’s immediate future secured and the reigning Champion having won successive Grands Prix in 2026, Zak hopes they can continue delivering success for McLaren for years to come.

“The goal is to win a lot more races and World Championships together as a driver and constructor, and Lando is a pivotal part of that,” Zak says. “It’s also very rewarding because I'm a bit of a romantic in sport: I like it when athletes stay with teams for a long time. That doesn’t happen very much in any sport, not just motor racing.

“To have a story where he started his career here, I would love to see him end his career here. But we know that he is going to be here until at least 2030.”

In tying Lando down, McLaren have secured the long-term futures of both their drivers, with Oscar having penned an extension in March 2025. Zak and Team Principal Andrea Stella have also both signed new contracts within the last two years.

Lando and Oscar could become both McLaren’s and F1’s longest-serving teammates during their current contracts. The pair currently sit seventh, having started 82 Grands Prix together, but are just 17 behind Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard at McLaren, and 22 behind Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello at Ferrari.

“His journey with the team is a fantastic example of our commitment to identifying, developing and supporting world-class talent, and his achievements speak for themselves,” Zak concludes. “Together with Andrea, Oscar and the wider team, Lando has helped drive McLaren into a new papaya era of success, helping us go from the back of the grid to double consecutive Constructors’ titles in 2024 and 2025 and our first Drivers’ Championship in 17 years.

“We are extremely excited about what lies ahead and remain fully focused on continuing to compete for wins and Championships.”