Zak Brown Fulfills Childhood Dream by Handling Wheels of Iconic Championship Winning Williams at the Most Historic Circuit
Credits: IMAGO / NurPhoto

Monaco is currently hosting the 14th edition of the Grand Prix Historique, an event to pay tribute to some of the most iconic cars in motorsports history. Popular names from the world of racing are driving cars built since 1924, celebrating how much motorsports has evolved over the last 100 years. McLaren CEO Zak Brown is also present in the Principality, where he drove the Williams 1980 FW07B on Sunday.

By driving the Williams, Brown fulfilled one of his childhood dreams. The American boss took to X to express how he felt after taking part in his historic event.

Brown wrote,

“I grew up in California watching the Monaco GP on TV. It seemed a million miles away back then and was just a dream. Fast-forward to today, it’s an immense privilege to drive this iconic circuit again, this time in Alan Jones’ 1980 championship-winning Williams FW07B“.

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The Williams FW07B used a Cosworth DFV 90º V8 engine. It delivered a power of 485 bhp and 362 KW at 10,600 rpm.

This car was designed by Patrick Head, a promising young engineer whom Williams hired at the time to help the team produce a championship-winning car. Head’s FW07B proved to be an immediate success as the major improvement in pace was evident during winter testing itself. According to motorsportmagazine.com, the car was a whopping two seconds per lap quicker than its predecessor.

With such a major improvement in pace, Williams won their first title that season with Alan Jones as driver. The rest is history as the Grove-based outfit went on to win eight more championships.

Brown followed the entire era of Williams’ domination from his home in California, and it was something that motivated him to make a career in F1 itself.

How Zak Brown progressed to become McLaren’s CEO

Zak Brown began his career in karting back in 1986 and during his five years in the discipline, he won 22 races. With him having shown promise as a racer, he decided to move to the UK in the early 1990s, as many aspiring drivers do.

Brown continued to race until 2000 but decided to call it quits and take a year’s sabbatical to focus on his management career. He founded Just Marketing Inc. (JMI), which is the largest motorsport agency in the world today.

He served as the company’s CEO until 2016, the year he joined McLaren. Having initially started at the Woking-based outfit as the company’s executive director, he climbed the ladder and became the CEO of McLaren Racing in 2018, a title  he continues to hold today.

What helped him reach the position of McLaren’s CEO is his sheer passion for motorsports. He gained valuable experience from his own firm, which he used to McLaren’s advantage in the future. Steering the ship forward now, Brown is looking to help McLaren win their first Constructors’ Championship title since 1998.