McLaren’s Tactical Approach in the Formula 1 Championship Race

In an exclusive interview with TechStuff podcast, McLaren CEO Zak Brown revealed how his team leveraged their rival’s internal instability to clinch the constructor’s title for the first time in over two decades.

The Highly Competitive and Political Aspect of Formula 1

Our sport, perhaps more than others, has a highly competitive and political aspect,” Brown explained, noting that McLaren “absolutely” received an “unexpected advantage” during the media storm surrounding Red Bull’s chief Christian Horner.

He further elaborated, “The goal is to make ourselves as fast as possible, but there’s also a strategy of destabilizing the competition. We try to create tension or disrupt other teams, which isn’t unique to F1 but is particularly pronounced here.

According to Brown, this tactic involves fighting for employees, drivers, sponsors, and media attention plays a significant role. If you can generate some instability in rival teams – and it doesn’t always work in our favor – it can slow them down while we focus on speeding up.

The Red Bull Scandal and McLaren’s Response

Last February, Horner was placed under investigation by Red Bull’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH, following allegations of inappropriate behavior towards a female colleague. At the time, Brown was vocal about the importance of transparency during the investigation and the seriousness of the allegations.

They need to handle it swiftly because I don’t believe these are the type of headlines that Formula 1 wants or needs at this time,” he told reporters. “McLaren holds ourselves and all the men and women at to the highest standards. Obviously, diversity and equality and inclusion are extremely important to us, our partners, to everyone in Formula 1,” he added.

Horner was cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent lawyer less than a month later, but the McLaren CEO, and several other team bosses, were critical of the way Red Bull handled the matter.

I’ve read this statement. I think, from what I’ve seen, there continues to be a lot of rumors, speculation, and questions,” Brown said at the time. “I think the sanctioning body has a responsibility and authority to our sport, to our fans, and I think to all of us in Formula 1… I think they need to make sure that things have been fully transparent with them.

McLaren went on to win their first constructors championship since 1998, while Red Bull finished third.