Zak Brown appointed McLaren CEO in management shake-up

Zak Brown (USA) McLaren Executive Director

Zak Brown has been appointed chief executive officer of McLaren Racing, as part of a formalisation of the existing management team structure.

Previously the team's executive director, Brown has long been the most visible senior management presence at Grand Prix races.

Brown was originally hired to oversee commercial operations at McLaren, working in partnership with chief operating officer Jonathan Neale.

He is also the co-founder of the United Autosports endurance racing team, and of the world's largest motorsports marketing agency Just Marketing International.

His new position as McLaren CEO makes him directly accountable for the on-track performance of the Formula 1 team. He will also be responsible for raising new sponsorship income.

Brown's former post of executive director is being eliminated. Eric Boullier continues in his role as F1 sporting director, and will now report directly to Brown.

Chief marketing officer John Allert continues to oversee the company’s marketing functions, reporting to Brown as before.

The news comes as part of a wider shake-up at Woking which was announced on Tuesday afternoon.

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The Automotive division will continue as before, with Mike Flewitt remaining as CEO. However the former McLaren Technology Group - which comprised Racing, Applied Technologies and Marketing - is being restructured.

McLaren Racing will now be a separate part of the business with Brown at its head. The rest of the business is to be reorganised as McLaren Applied Technologies, with a new CEO to be appointed.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa of Bahrain remains Group Executive Chairman. Neale becomes Group COO reporting directly to the executive committee, consisting of Shaikh Mohammed and Mansour Ojjeh.

"The work of the past year at a corporate level has been focused on structuring and positioning McLaren for growth," said Sheikh Mohammed.

"These latest developments are a natural consequence of that work and are designed to bring greater simplicity and clarity to the structure and leadership of the group."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.