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“Missing Him”: Zak Brown Given a Tough Pill to Swallow as McLaren Misses Its “Perfectionist” Amid F1 Downfall

Published 04/15/2023, 2:15 PM EDT

“When it rains, it pours”. That is the exact situation that McLaren is facing right now. Daniel Ricciardo leaving and taking a fat check with himself, the MCL60 being a monstrosity to drive and now James Key leaving. Zak Brown has been hinted to follow and learn from a former McLaren perfectionist amidst all these troubles as McLaren looks forward to saving its sinking ship. Who is this perfectionist and why was he so good at it?

McLaren’s downfall started during the second half of last year. Zak Brown has already explained how he was not happy with the pace of development last year. And to top it off, McLaren’s start to the season has been nothing short of a disaster. Had it not been for the demolition derby at Albert Park, McLaren would’ve still been dead last in the championship. As a result of all of these factors, a major reshuffle has been announced at McLaren, which started with James Key retiring from the team.

Eddie Jordan believes McLaren needs a solid backbone in their team, who actually cares about the team and its people. He suggests that Ron Dennis was the kind of guy who was a perfectionist who planned everything. Dennis wanted accomplished and talented drivers like Senna and Prost. People admired how thorough the Briton was with the car and the surrounding people. Jordan explained how McLaren misses having all of this and wishes they had someone like him on the team.

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According to Motorsport.com, Eddie Jordan said, “He was incredibly caring to the team and took care of his team members when there were health issues or family issues. Ron was a perfectionist, wasn’t he? He had it all planned out. He wanted drivers like Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. Honestly, we all laughed about it and made fun of Ron a bit for how thorough and thorough he was about both the car and the way he prepared the people, but I bet McLaren is missing him right now.”

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Zak Brown has been given a wake-up call by Eddie Jordan asking him to start being thorough with the development. Brown was already frustrated with the development pace and the appointment of Andrea Stella gave him an opportunity to start things over in the way he wanted.

Zak Brown opens up about the reshuffle at McLaren

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Many teams out-developed McLaren during the second part of last season, including Alpine, who finished ahead of them in the championship. This season’s performance combined with last year’s result gave McLaren all the more reason to put in a restructuring. Brown explained that he presented the idea to the new TP, Andrea Stella, as they both analyzed the situation and took action accordingly.

As quoted by Motorsports, Zak Brown said, “I was not happy with the pace of development of the car in the second half of the season last year, if you compare that of other teams–where they were at mid-season and where they finished–with ours. So conversations started to take place, and we changed team principals towards the end of the year, which gave me the opportunity to be more aggressive in my work with Andrea, tasking him to analyze the team. And that’s exactly what he did.”

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Watch this Story: Will F1 see a McLaren-Honda Reunion Again in 2026?

What do you make you the pill that Eddie Jordan made Zak Brown swallow?

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Written by:

Pranay Bhagi is an F1 writer at EssentiallySports, who has always been passionate about sports and writing. With a degree from a prestigious institute, he has channeled his enthusiasm into sports journalism, particularly F1, a sport that has captivated him for over a decade. Pranay's deep-rooted love for the sport began during the Sebastian Vettel era, and he has been following it religiously ever since.

Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai

“Missing Him”: Zak Brown Given a Tough Pill to Swallow as McLaren Misses Its “Perfectionist” Amid F1 Downfall

Zak Brown opens up about the reshuffle at McLaren

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