7/14/2023 0 Comments Steering wheel buddy![]() We manufacture a new part for the car every 14 minutes. We change 80 percent of the race car from the start of the year to the end of the year. Formula 1 is different than most other forms of racing because of the constant development of the car. I think the car is underdeveloped, but I don't think it's inherently a bad car. ZB: Our car is definitely not where we want it to be. What is the development process for an F1 car? I don't see there being a day where they all kind of converge under one technology.Ĭ/D: McLaren isn't quite where you want it to be right now in the F1 points. I think the end result is going to be a couple of different ways to propel an engine. We're bringing in sustainable fuels and biofuels. People don't ride horses to work anymore, but there is still horse racing. Electric is obviously here to stay, but we as a sport don't necessarily have to exclusively go down the route of matching exactly. ZB: I think motorsports fans like multiple forms of motorsport. If you go back a long way, we were the first team to have carbon-fiber tubs, and we're the first automotive company to exclusively use carbon-fiber tubs in a road car.Ĭ/D: What are your thoughts on Formula E? As mainstream motorsports look to incorporate more electric tech, will Formula E and Formula 1 eventually be the same thing? They might apply it in a different way, but they take that knowledge and know-how and put it into the road car. So there's not many items that come off our car, but something like, how to manage heat in the engine, we have materials that we can share with the automotive company. ![]() They have an element of ride comfort and safety. They're trying to make parts that last 200,000 miles. We're trying to make parts that last 200 miles. There's not a lot of taking a part off a Formula 1 car and putting it on a road car. On the technical side, we have people that cross over. These joint marketing efforts are very good for us, for our sponsors, because the automotive brand is very premium. I'll get to the technical stuff in a second, but from a marketing standpoint, a lot of our fans are very aspirational, so we have Lando and Oscar signing hoods for dealers. His customers are fans of McLaren Formula 1 and vice versa. We share a brand, so we work very closely. The relationship between myself and Michael Leiters, who's our new CEO, is awesome. Zak Brown: It's usually going racing car to production. We had a chance to grab a few minutes with Brown before the festivities started, and he shared his thoughts on the differences between various racing series, how his prior racing career makes him a better manager, and more.Ĭ/D: When you have a company like McLaren-where you make a consumer car, and you have a motorsports division-what's that relationship like? Which direction is information traveling these days? Is it coming from the production car and then being integrated into racing, or is it going from the racing car to the production car? He pointed out that the producers do take liberties with the series's edits, but confirmed that the themes and drama shown on screen are all real. Brown also talked about Netflix's aforementioned Formula 1 show. During his time on stage, Brown talked about growing up in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, the place where he got his first taste of racing by hanging out at famous build shops such as that of upholsterer, Tony Nancy-famed for his race cars and his work with celebrities like Steve McQueen. Brown has been at McLaren since 2016, but still owns and races a collection of vintage cars. His early career was on the other side of the steering wheel, first as a kart and sports car racer, and later as a team owner and motorsport marketing guru. Tested: 2023 McLaren Artura Is the Second Comingīrown currently oversees all of McLaren's racing properties, from Formula 1 and Ind圜ar to Formula E and Extreme E.2024 McLaren 750S Is a Lighter and Mightier 720S.
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