Zak Brown revives a piece of F1 history at Imola GP weekend
Mario Andretti won the 1978 Formula 1 World Championship in the Lotus 79.
Zak Brown, McLaren
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has shared the moment he was able to take the iconic Lotus 79, which is part of his impressive car collection, out on the track at Imola.
Taking to the track during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend, Brown stepped into the car which clinched Mario Andretti the 1978 World Drivers' Championship title.
Brown posted on social media: "Awesome to be out on track at Imola with @unitedautosports in the Lotus 79 that @MarioAndretti won the 1978 World Championship. What a circuit!"
This comes ahead of Brown taking the 1987 Williams FW11B Formula 1 car, originally driven by Nigel Mansell, out on the Silverstone Circuit for a demonstration run as part of the 2025 British Grand Prix weekend.
What Mario Andretti cars does Zak Brown own?
In a recent video with ESPN F1, Zak Brown walked Nicole Briscoe through some of the impressive cars in his collection - three of which were driven by Mario Andretti during his racing career. Brown commented:
"We'll go over to Mario Andretti. So, this is his Formula 5000 car," he said as he pointed to the first of his collection from the legendary American driver.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Zak Brown, McLaren
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Moving onto the iconic Lotus 79, Brown continued:
"This was the very iconic... I think everyone at my age had this car in the Matchbox, the model cars. He won the World Championship in this car. It's a Lotus 79."
"But the car that's most special would be his 1987 Long Beach Grand Prix winner. This is where it all got started for me. He dominated the race from pole. Emerson Fittipaldi was close on his tail and had a mechanical, and then Mario went on to destroy the field.
"This particular chassis, he also put on pole at the Indy 500 in '87 when he led the first 179 laps and then broke... He told me this story, it broke because his team told him to slow down and that actually caused an engine vibration issue because he had a lap on the field."
Photos from Emilia Romagna GP - Practice
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Friday
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