Zak Brown’s biggest McLaren failure – Formula One is in a league of its own in terms of global motorsports. Often described as the pinnacle of global racing, the juggernaut of the multi billion dollar series has rolled on to even greater heights since the purchase of the commercial rights by Liberty Media back in 2017.
The new owners of Formula One Management have more than doubled the value of the sport in their seven years in charge, and the trickle down effect sees even the humblest of competitors with a price tag close to $1bn by each of the various business valuations produced each season.
The F1 cars are today ram packed with the names of their partners and sponsors and a number of teams are each year declaring decent profits from their racing, something unheard of less than a decade ago.
Bruce McLaren loved racing in N. America
With now a whopping 24 races each season on the F1 calendar, F1 is the dominant motor racing series amongst the top tier of racing. Indycar, North America’s premier single seater open cockpit racing series has just 17 rounds in 2025 and the growth of the sport has been much slower than its over the pond rival which is predominantly based in the UK.
For sports cars, the premier racing series is the World Endurance Championship but in this division there are just eight events a year, although the blue ribbon event remains the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In days of yore, the Indy500 was part of the F1 calendar in the 1950’s and European teams and drivers would each year cross the pond to compete in “the biggest spectacle in motor racing.” Unfortunately this has restricted the development of the series as the event dominates the Indycar season in terms of media and broadcasting coverage. Almost the entire month of May being devoted to practice and qualifying – and a road course race at the Autodromo – before the huge spectator event which takes place each Memorial Day weekend.
The namesake and founder of the McLaren F1 team, Bruce, was a fan of racing in North America, although his attention was captivated by the growing the Can-Am series. This was in effect a sports car racing series liberated from the vast array of technical regulations. The FIA rules governing the series were minimal and permitted unlimited engine sizes, virtually unrestricted aerodynamics, and were as close as any major international racing series ever got to have an “anything goes” policy.
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McLaren win Indy500
McLaren also have a history of competing in North American open wheel racing, both as an entrant and chassis constructor. The team won the Indy500 inn 1974 and 1976 following a win from a McLaren designed chassis in 1972.
Under the new leadership of Zak Brown, McLaren Racing returned to the Indy500 for two one off challenges in 2017/19. Then plans were announced for 2020 for the brand to compete I the full Indycar series in partnership with the Schmidt Peterson team. Now the Arrow McLaren team is a front running competitor in Indycar, although its journey has been one of ups and downs as Zak brown will admit.
Now in its sixth full year of competition in Indycar, McLaren can look back with relative satisfaction on their bid to take on the Indy giants such as Penske, Andretti and Chip Ganassi. In their 86 race starts they have 7 wins, 37 podiums together with 17 front row starts from just 86 races entered.
Zak Brown made an audacious bid in 2022 to sign new kid on the block Alex Palou, who had just won his maiden Indycar series title with Chip Ganassi. They have Palou had been lured by Brown with the attraction of a McLaren seat in F1, which was never guaranteed in his contract.
McLaren lose out on Alex Palou
The young Spanish driver had dreamed of this during his junior racing career in Europe but his year in F2 with Campos Racing proved to be a disaster and he was forced to try his hand in other racing categories. Brown’s plan was to put Palou in his Arrow McLaren Indycar team, but his route to F1 would be governed by the success – or lack of it – of the current paring he has in the McLaren F1 team.
Ultimately due to contract wars, brown lost out on Palou who is now a three time winner of the Indycar series and last weekend he remarkably added the win in the Indy500 to his trophy cabinet. Yet failing to sign Palou was not Brown’s biggest mistake, it was how he went about replacing the Spaniard which has proven a costly error.
Brown opted to recruit the promising young driver, David Malukas, a young driver who had impressed in his debut seasons with minnow team Dale Cone Racing. Yet before pre-season testing the 21 year old American tore ligaments and dislocated his left wrist in a mountain bike accident which required surgery.
After being unfit for the first four races of the season and with a timeline for full recovery uncertain, McLaren decided to release Malukas along with ‘insider’ reports they didn’t consider him an “A list” driver. Brown attempted to fill the third seat with first Callum Ilott and then 2023 ex-F2 champion Theo Porchaire.
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Brown lets go highly promising ‘little Dave’
Yet neither impressed in the papaya liveried cars and Brown settled on recruiting Nolan Siegel, who interestingly debuted the same race as Malukas returned for Meyer Shank Racing. With hindsight the obvious question arises – why dod brown not just wait for Malukas to recover?
Malukas moved this season to A.J.Foyt who have a technical relationship with Penske in a move many believe is a precursor for ‘little Dave’ to replace Will Power who appears to be entering the twilight years of his Indycar career.
The native of Chicago has impressed with his speed since his Indycar debut, in particular in racing on the ovals. This year Malukas qualified seventh for the Indy500 and ran top five for most of the race regardless of the differing fuel strategies of those around him.
Ex-McLaren driver leads the Indy500
Malukas even led the race as Palou shadowed him lap after lap, before the Spaniard finally made the killer move which won him the race. Marcus Ericsson found away past the AJ Foyt driver in the closing laps, but Malukas was promoted to second place when the Swede’s failed a technical inspection after the chequered flag.
Malukas finsihed ahead of all three McLaren drivers, including Pato O’ward who was fancied to be the 2025 Indy500 winner. Nolan Siegel is struggling down in 19th place in the Indycar standings after six rounds this year, whilst Malukas is riding high in the top ten with the unfancied AJ Foyt racing team.
Since attempting to sign Palou, the Spaniard is proving to be the driver of his generation with two more championships and five wins from the first six rounds of the 2025 Indycar season. Malukas looks set to follow in his footsteps and Zak Brown and McLaren may rue to their cost that they let go the super fast young Chicagoan racer.
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The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
