F1 team boss announced in switch to rivals

Zak Brown, McLaren, Bahrain, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News

F1 team boss announced in switch to rivals

A F1 boss has made a surprising move across to another team

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 10 May 2024 18:43 Updated: 17:20

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McLaren team boss Zak Brown has been announced to move to a rival F1 team... for a weekend.

The CEO recently enjoyed his second victory whilst in charge at McLaren, with Lando Norris claiming a stunning maiden win in Miami.

Article continues under video

Brown’s inaugural McLaren victory was with Daniel Ricciardo at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, the Aussie forcing him to get a tattoo to commemorate the achievement.

After coming close to a victory with Norris in Russia the same year, the team could finally celebrate with the British driver in Miami.

Zak Brown has overseen two Grand Prix victories at McLaren

Zak Brown makes surprising team switch

Brown was jubilant speaking to Sky Sports following Lando Norris’ win.

"This is long overdue. This is a very popular win amongst the fans, the drivers - so many drivers went up to him and congratulated him,” he said.

"He drove perfectly and the car was very fast.

"A lot of credit to the leadership team. Andrea, Stella I couldn't ask for a better team principal.

"He listens, he communicates, he's thoughtful, he's hard-working and demanding. That's how everyone is at the factory. It's all starting to come together."

Despite being loyal to McLaren, Zak Brown will make a temporary switch to drive his Williams at the Monaco Historique this weekend.

The Monaco Historique showcases cars from the history of motorsport in a series of races two weeks before the Monaco Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc famously crashed Niki Lauda’s 1972 Ferrari 312B3 into the barriers in 2022, mirroring his unravelling F1 season.

Leclerc’s Monaco curse lives on ?

Leclerc crashed a classic Niki Lauda Ferrari at the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique ?#F1 #Formula1 #CharlesLeclerc #GrandPrixMonacoHistorique #Motorsport

pic.twitter.com/pJHBkPEHEK
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) May 15, 2022

According to Sky Sports Zak Brown will race in Alan Jones’ 1980 world title winning FW07B this weekend.

Brown has raced in the Williams before at the Velocity Invitational event, and has plenty of other impressive in his cars collection- including Ayrton Senna’s McLaren-Honda MP4/6 from 1991.

Zak Brown will be racing in his Williams - Alan Jones' 1980 World title winning FW07B at the Monaco Historique ?

You can watch the action LIVE on our YouTube Channels on Saturday and Sunday ? pic.twitter.com/rs6tjnP4IF
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) May 10, 2024

The Monaco Historique will be aired across Sky Sports Youtube channels on Saturday and Sunday.

Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

View full biography

McLaren Lando Norris Daniel Ricciardo Zak Brown