Seven Tenths of a Second, page 10
Mansour’s constantly making fun of you. When he gets serious, you know you’re in trouble. He’s there, later on, when we’re at our lowest. And his support never wavers. All he ever does is build confidence.
And Sheikh Mohammed and Mansour are two racers who are much more interested in being part of the racing team when they’re around McLaren, which is awesome. Their loyalty and support for me has been immense. It is unmatched.
Mansour Ojjeh passes away in June 2021, but he is one of the most important people in my life. He’s a legend of the sport.
I’ve never met someone more loyal to their friends than Mansour. A huge racer, loves life, immensely loyal. I’ve always been a pleaser and I’m always very proud to work for Mansour. He makes me feel wanted right from the start. I work at my best if I feel my bosses think I’m an All-Star and Mansour makes me feel like an All-Star.
Mansour always has a sharp sense of humour, too. When they’re buying Ron out of the business, we’re at Farnborough Airport, waiting on the court ruling, and Mansour comes in and he’s dressed immaculately.
He’s wearing a tie. And I say: ‘Mansour, why the tie?’ And then he makes a joke about Ron leaving and the importance of it and alluding to the upheaval of Brexit. He says: ‘Today’s a big day. Today’s Rexit.’
When we win the constructors’ championship in 2024, I’m very proud that I’m wearing my Mansour hat. We put Mansour’s name on the side of the car after he passes away, and the hat is part of that celebration of his life. He has an awesome family and an awesome wife, Kathy.
A lot of my life seems to have been linked to Mansour’s. One of my favourite cars in my collection is my 1980 Williams World Championship car, which was sponsored by TAG, the company where Mansour was owner and CEO.
He sponsors Williams before he buys into McLaren. And the first race I ever go to is won by Alan Jones in a Williams 1981 car, which also has TAG on it. So I’ve always felt like my Formula 1 motor racing career has come full circle, because the very first race I ever go to, that car is kind of Mansour’s car. When he gets involved in recruiting me to McLaren, it’s a huge thing for me.
Between Mansour and Sheikh Mohammed, they make it feel so special, and I know they are doing it with the total support of the Crown Prince of Bahrain, who adores McLaren, cares tremendously about the people, and who at the end of the day is a racer who has a deep passion for wanting to win.
And so it’s Friday night and I have two offers in front of me, one from F1 and one from McLaren, and I have to decide. The McLaren offer gives me the opportunity to go racing. I’m a racer, a business guy and a deal-maker, and I can do all three at McLaren. I could do some of that at F1, but when the lights go out, I want to be in the race. It is very much a family decision with Tracy, McGuire and Max, who all support whatever decision I decide to make. I pick McLaren.
I’ve always had my heart set on going to F1, so it is an emotional decision and all to do with how much I admire Sheikh Mohammed, Mansour and the Crown Prince. Mansour says to me at one point, ‘I’m not going to get off this phone until I get a yes from you.’ There is real energy, passion and competitive spirit in their pursuit. I feel really wanted and this is what sways it for me.
Around that time, Bernie sends an email to Kevin Eason. ‘Formula One is not in a tug-of-war for Mr Brown,’ it says. ‘I think he would be an excellent choice for McLaren.’
Chapter 10
The Papaya Era
I am announced as McLaren’s new executive director on 21 November 2016. It’s April 2018 before I officially become CEO, but everybody knows I’m leading the team.
Let’s be blunt about this: the team is not in a good place. Off the track, it’s riven by internal dissent and confused priorities. On the track, it’s a pale shadow of the F1 behemoth it used to be.
We haven’t won a Grand Prix since the last race of the 2012 season when Jenson Button takes the chequered flag at Interlagos in Brazil. In 2013, we end the season fifth overall without a single podium finish. In 2014, we’re lucky to finish fifth.
In 2015, fifth feels like an impossible dream. McLaren has an abysmal season, despite the fact that we have two world champions, in Button and Fernando Alonso, driving the cars.
We score twenty-seven points across the course of the entire season and finish ninth in the constructors’ standings. It’s a humiliation. We’re not just below Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams and Red Bull. We’re behind Force India, Lotus, Toro Rosso and Sauber, too. People are laughing at us.
By the time I get there at the end of 2016, we’ve improved to sixth in the standings but we still look a long way off podium finishes. The leading teams are in a different league to us. And there’s a leadership vacuum.
I’m happy with the decision I’ve made. Some people are surprised I haven’t gone to F1, but what’s not widely known is that F1 made an approach for me prior to these overtures so I’m a bit frustrated and worn out from the previous discussions.
The opposite is true with McLaren. I love the way they handle the pursuit of me. They are all-in. I start to think I love McLaren. It’s always been my favourite team, even before I join.
It’s another lesson for me. Work for people that want you. Follow your passion. Don’t be afraid of the unknown. Work for people you want to work for and who make you feel good about yourself. And then get stuck in.
McLaren is a more intimidating job for me than F1 would have been. F1 would have been very commercially focused, which is something I’m very comfortable with. It would have been what I know. There’s deal-making at McLaren, too. Sure. But I’m going racing as well.
I’ve never run a racing team. I’ve got a thousand people working for the team and, probably 900 of them, I can’t do their job. At CSM, I had 1,300 employees, but while I didn’t know the sports, I knew the deals. At McLaren, there’s a kind of feeling I don’t even speak the same language as some of the people working for the team.
It’s difficult standing up in front of them for the first time. The team’s not in good shape. It’s not like morale is high. Morale is rock-bottom.
You’ve got to keep in mind, too, that there has been a revolving-door leadership situation at McLaren when I arrive. Some of them probably think I’m not going to be there for very long. Some of them probably aren’t even that interested in listening to what I’ve got to say.
I’ve never loved giving speeches. Not stand-up, keynote speeches. Not set-piece things. I like the fireside chat version of a speech. Or Q&As. But sometimes, you’ve got to do stuff you’re scared of. Now, I’m the first person to jump in and say to them, ‘We’re going to figure this out.’
I have a tremendous amount of respect for what went before me at McLaren. You only have to look at what Ron and Mansour accomplished. They are two of the great figures in the history of Formula 1 and they are synonymous with McLaren’s glory years. Rightly so.
When I get there, I find a mess. Sponsorship is at a record low, performance on track is at a record low, morale is at a record low. The politics within the team are involved and thorny. Our fans are angry with us. Our brand is being damaged.
Focus and priorities seem to have slipped. If you’re being generous, you say they’ve shifted. Technology spend is falling far behind on F1, while considerable focus and investment are going into growing the automotive business.
It just feels as if there is no adult supervision at the F1 team. There are so many distractions in the boardroom that no one is 100 per cent focused on the team. It’s in decline, basically.
It’s been going on for a while. Martin Whitmarsh takes over as team principal in 2009 when Ron steps away from the F1 team to concentrate on the automotive side.
It takes a couple of years to impact a business, and by the time Whitmarsh leaves in 2014, the team is in a downward spiral, having lost Lewis, having lost the title sponsor, having been beaten to a championship by their own engine partner in a new team. It turns out 2013 is the worst season in ten years.
So they make a change and Ron returns and Whitmarsh leaves the team. Eric Boullier comes in as racing director and Jonathan Neale’s the Group F1 COO. Then, a few months before I’m hired, they appoint a guy called Jost Capito as the new F1 team chief executive. Like I said, revolving door.
I get there and I find a blame culture. Everything’s Honda’s fault, apparently. And while the Honda engine is not competitive, it’s not all their fault. Things get better when we switch to Renault but it’s not like everything’s suddenly fine. We’re sixth. We’re still struggling.
There is a lot of talk about me replacing Ron, but even if I effectively replace him at the racing team, I don’t replace him in the wider group. The idea of replacing him isn’t really on my radar. He has achieved a body of work that will stand for ever. I want to remain extremely respectful of what Ron accomplished.
I’m very concerned with not losing credibility with the team. So I am very conscious not to say or do anything that smacks of ignorance or arrogance. I remember getting told about the new boss of another Formula 1 team, who comes in and he says something about how he’s not here to finish second, and second is first of the losers, and it sounds trite and arrogant. I want to earn respect before I start shooting from the hip.
I want to lean in quietly, but at pace. I’m very conscious I don’t want to lose the locker room. And because it’s been a revolving door, I’m cautious. I don’t want to make myself look like a fool and start on the back foot.
So the first thing I do is lean into the commercial department because that is what I feel comfortable with. Back then, everyone talks about the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) as if it’s something out of Star Wars.
But if the F1 team is a Star Wars character, we’re Darth Vader. We’re not warm, we’re not friendly, we’re not popular. Even the cars look grim and sinister. I want to change us into Luke Skywalker.
So one of the first things we do is change the colour of our car and the branding of the team to papaya to reconnect with the history of McLaren. The fans want it, for a start. And I remember someone saying to me, ‘Well, you only did that because it’s what the fans want.’ And I say to them, ‘Is that a trick question?’
What’s wrong with doing what the fans want? I want to harness some of their energy. I’m all about the fans. Without the great papaya fans and motor racing fans, there is no Formula 1. I’ve got this unbelievable, iconic McLaren brand and I’m totally comfortable working with the commercial team and going like gangbusters.
We try to start raising more money for the technology we need at the racing team. We want to invest in the wind tunnel.
I’m comfortable with our drivers, but I know that there is some scepticism about how I will be able to handle Alonso. One of the things people seem fixated about is the idea that he’ll refuse to wear a Richard Mille watch to honour our contract with them. I say to him, ‘We’re going to show people you and I get along really well – I never want to see that Richard Mille watch off your wrist.’
He never takes it off. It’s a small thing but it’s a good start. It diffuses a bit of tension. It gets rid of an unnecessary distraction. Then, we’re winter testing and his engine blows up on the third lap and he says he wants to go and play tennis. I let him go play tennis.
A lot of people seem surprised. I don’t see the point of keeping him locked up in a room at the circuit, letting his frustration build because his engine blew up. It’s better to let him blow off some energy.
I want a bit of levity about the team. I want a bit of flexibility. I want to change things. I want us to do things a new way, with an energetic, inclusive culture of fun and trust.
But I’ve learned from CSM that I can’t run a team of more than 1,000 people alone. Yes, there’s an element of micromanaging, and I can’t let all of that part of my personality go, but you’ve got to build a kick-ass team around you.
I get to know everyone, evaluate the structure and the people, and recognize that we’re not ideally structured and that we don’t have the right people in the right positions.
I make changes pretty quickly. But one at a time. I don’t come in with that in mind, but I quickly identify that this place needs new leadership. Some of the people I hire I have worked with at JMI. Some people are brand new. Only one is an internal promotion, which is Laura Bowden, who is now our CFO.
And if you’re going to have great commercial success, you’ve got to have a huge fan base. So you have got to have a great comms team to engage with the fans.
You’ve got to sell sponsors to be able to hire the best people, to get a new wind tunnel. It’s not just having a great aerodynamic department. You’ve got to have that. But then there’s everything that feeds into that.
I bring in people I know and value and need. I get my head of HR from a football team. Before that, he ran his department at Manchester Airport. He’s used to the pace of what I need. He’s used to everyone being angry, everyone yelling. He knows how to deal with athletes and owners.
So I rebuild the entire leadership team, and we’ve got an awesome team to this day. I’ve changed one or two because I’m in my ninth season now, so that happens. But my three main commercial people have been here the full nine years. I love them.
I get my team in place, I stick with them, and I believe not a single one of them would want to work elsewhere. I love working with and for them. And I very much see it that we work for each other and with each other. They all get along great. It’s been the secret ingredient in the team’s rebirth.
I trust them. They trust me. We agree, we disagree. We challenge each other. I let them override me. I override them. That’s been the nucleus, that’s been the core of our success. And then that has bled through how we want the whole organization to work.
You want a summary of my management style? I’m a democratic, diplomatic leader. A benevolent leader. Ultimately, someone’s got to make a decision, and I have the final say. However, I have no problem giving that final say to someone else.
If we’re in a meeting and I’m totally disagreeing with a suggestion and I think it’s going to be a crash, I’ll override. But I know I don’t know everything, so I’ve had times that I have gotten it wrong. I’ve also got no problem disagreeing with something, pointing out why I disagree with it, and then letting them go ahead and do it anyway. And if it turns out to be a mistake, as long as they own it, we move on and there’s no culture of ‘I told you so’.
I have trust in my team, and if things do go wrong, we can fix them. It kind of comes back to my mantra that mistakes are okay, just don’t make the same mistake twice.
We make the mistake together. If I’m that passionate about it, I can say no. If a mistake’s made, it’s also my mistake because I let you do it. The important thing is to instigate the conversation. My old chairman used to say to me sometimes: ‘Zak, you just need to put the puck on the ice and take a slap at it.’
I’m happy to be convinced your way is better. Nothing annoys me more than not being challenged. It takes a little while for a team around you to get comfortable with that, but that’s how it works best for me. I don’t want people who are uncomfortable having difficult discussions and who may take things personally.
Sometimes the conversations can get animated. And that’s good. I’d much rather slow someone down than speed them up. I’d much rather have someone that goes 10 per cent too far and slightly annoys me than someone who stops short and leaves me to find out what they really think at a later date. It is unacceptable not to challenge.
Chapter 11
Timeout
My first full season at McLaren does not start well. Things are a lot worse than I thought. Everyone’s pointing the finger at our engine partner, Honda. I don’t feel we’re being real with ourselves.
There’s no point kidding yourself in business or in sport, and we have this huge arrogance that our plight is not our fault. The truth is, there are problems at the team that go way beyond the power units.
Power units don’t have anything to do with the state of our commercial situation, how we treat business partners and being an inclusive versus exclusive environment. I see the problems with the engine, sure, but I see a lot of other stuff, too.
Results on the track are terrible. It is not unexpected but it is still sobering. It is dispiriting for the team. It is dispiriting for the drivers. I am already aware of the scale of the task I face, and the first few races of 2017 are a reminder of just how far we have to travel.
The first race is Australia. Stoffel Vandoorne, our young Belgian driver, finishes last. Fernando Alonso does not finish. Next is China. Fernando does not finish, Vandoorne does not finish.
In Bahrain, Fernando does not finish, and Vandoorne does not even start because of a power unit failure on the way to the grid. Fernando says he is not sure whether Vandoorne is lucky or unlucky to miss the race. We’re at a point where we have to resort to dark humour to cope.
In Russia, Vandoorne finishes fourteenth. Fernando does not start because of a problem with his power unit. In Spain, Fernando finishes twelfth, two laps behind winner Lewis Hamilton. Vandoorne does not finish.
Next up is Monaco, but I’ve already made a decision about Monaco. I’m not going to be in Monaco and neither is Fernando. We’re going to do something different, something radical, something that will raise a few eyebrows, something I think will change the mood.
By then, we are already in a rut where we are doing more of the same, more of the same, at every race weekend. We’re dealing in frustration, we’re feeling impotent, we’re raging against our luck, we’re blaming other people. It’s a particularly malevolent version of Groundhog Day.
