Axios House: "Everything is a competition," McLaren Racing chief says
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Zak Brown talking with Darren Cox on the Axios House stage. Photo: Dani Ammann Photography for Axios.
DAVOS, Switzerland — McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown is "motivated a bit by the fear of failure" as a leader in the highly competitive world of motor racing, he said at an event at Axios House this week.
Why it matters: Formula One has captivated audiences worldwide, leading to a stream of investment from brands eager to partner with the franchise's leading teams.
The Race Media founder Darren Cox spoke with Brown at the event, which was produced in partnership with The Race Media and sponsored by Lead Edge Capital.
What they're saying: "It's an unbelievably competitive sport – 2% separates the best from the worst," Brown said.
- "Everything is a competition, on the track, off the track, for partners, for employees, for technologies," he said.
- Every team has ups and downs, which he said is both nerve-wracking and motivating.
- "We've won the last two championships," Brown said. "I really want to keep that going, but I know it's a matter of when, not if, that you get knocked off the top of the mountain. So you just need to dust yourself off and go again."
State of play: Partnerships with B2B and tech brands help McLaren run its business and cars better, and consumer brands help boost fan engagement, Brown said.
- McLaren is very interested in who it partners with, he said. "Our partners are very much integrated into our racing team."
The bottom line: Formula One and McLaren's global growth is capturing investors' attention, and it doesn't look as if that is going away any time soon.
- "I think the sport has always been global and huge," Brown said. "It's only 11 teams now, most other sports have 20 to 30 teams … and now that every team has the opportunity to be profitable and competitive, [that] has made it very attractive. So you see the investors that have come in are high-quality investors."
Content from the sponsor's segment:
In a View From the Top conversation, Lead Edge Capital founder and managing partner Mitchell Green said that for elite teams, "at the end of the day, it's all about the people."
- For companies to sustain high performance, "I think you have to evolve with time," Green said. "It's also about hiring creative people [who] can adapt over time in a world we're living in that is constantly changing."
- "You have to be willing to try to disrupt yourself, and a lot of companies are not able to do that."
