‘I’m just a sales schmuck’: Zak Brown’s behind-the-scenes style revealed by former McLaren chief

Zak Brown in the paddock

McLaren’s former group marketing director has described how Zak Brown was pivotal in redefining the McLaren brand.

Henry Chilcott worked at the MTC from May 2017 to July 2020 and came in at a crucial time as the team shifted from the Ron Dennis era to the one we know today. Key to that was Zak Brown and Chilcott has described what it was like to work with him.

Self-confessed ‘Sales schmuck’ Zak Brown’s pivotal role in McLaren revival

Brown joined McLaren in 2016 as executive director before going on to become CEO in April 2018 and was instrumental in changing the way McLaren was perceived.

Coming from a marketing background, Brown appears forever confident but Chilcott has revealed a different side to the American.

“People have a perception that he’s bold, he can be brash, very, very confident,” Chilcott told the Pondering Papaya podcast. “He is definitely very confident but he also has an ability to be self-deprecating.

“I remember him describing himself to me as a ‘sales schmuck.’ ‘I’m just the sales schmuck’.

“He was self-deprecating, that was the first thing which I think a lot of people would be surprised to hear.

“He also had a really clear vision. He went aggressively after getting the right people to help him deliver that vision and then he backed those people 100 percent. He didn’t tinker, he was very clear about what he wanted, he was very demanding.

“But when, for example, you’re putting a pitch together, he would back you. And in a meeting, he would back you.”

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When Brown first joined, McLaren were one of the worst sponsored teams on the grid but eight years later, it feels like they announce a new partner almost every week. Chilcott described what Brown’s process was like but also the secret weapon they had up their sleeve.

“I’ve been pitching my whole life, mostly in advertising agencies, but when you can start the meeting and start to inspire with the history and then talk about where we’re going to go. Take people on that walk down the boulevard and that incredible history that you observe, pass the trophy cabinets down to the MTC.

“Zak was very good at building that pitch in a way, which was I think more open and more respectful than people expected from McLaren, I think it had got a bit of a reputation for holding on to its past glory and still being a bit stiff and inflexible.

“Whereas Zak was very clear. ‘I want to be the most entrepreneurial, flexible partner to ask our sponsors, I want to be F1, the championship’s, favourite team.’

“So he’s very clear on that and when we sat down with partners, it wasn’t about, here’s our rights and here’s how much it’s going to cost you.

“Those early foundations that Zak put in and the people that he brought in persist.”