Zak Brown hails McLaren’s "fascinating" rise from backmarkers to champions

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has reflected on the "fascinating" transition that the Woking outfit made from being at the back of the Formula 1 grid at the start of 2023 to winning back-to-back constructors' championships.

After clinching the 2025 constructors' title at the Singapore Grand Prix, Brown was asked during an interview with McLaren how the current era of the team compared to the late 1980s/early 1990s.

McLaren went from fifth in the constructors' standings in 2022 and fourth in 2023, to winning in both 2024 and 2025. While Brown admitted it was "hard to compare" the team to the late '80s and early '90s, he found the jump in performance "fascinating".

"It's hard to rank it because McLaren's had unbelievable success over the years," the American said.

"There have been a lot of eras of dominance in McLaren’s history, and it’s hard to compare ’24 and ’25 with ‘88, ’89, ’90, and ’91, when we were winning everything.

"What I think is the fascinating part of this story is where we came from in such a short period of time. From effectively being one of the slowest cars at the beginning of ’23 to turning that around and producing a Championship-winning car just 12 months later is unheard of. I think that’s what makes this story unique and special – how quickly we went from being at the back of the grid to the front."

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's third and fourth-place finishes in Singapore sealed the deal for McLaren, earning the constructors' title. The pair will continue to fight for the drivers' title until the end of the season, primarily with each other, but four-time champion Max Verstappen continues to be a threat with six race weekends remaining.

“To win back-to-back Championships is a testament to the hard work that every single person at McLaren has done at the factory and at the race track," Brown explained.

"That includes our Team Principal Andrea Stella, the senior leadership team, and, of course, we couldn’t have done it without our two awesome racing drivers, Lando and Oscar.”