Zak Brown criticises ‘dangerous’ strategy from rivals in McLaren sponsor approach reveal

From Stake-Kick Sauber to Oracle Red Bull Racing, Zak Brown has warned McLaren’s rivals that relying on title sponsors may be lucrative but it is also “dangerous”.

McLaren last had a title sponsor back in 2013 when the team was backed by Vodafone, only for the mobile operator to call time on the sponsorship deal.

McLaren has not had a title sponsor since Vodafone withdrew after 2013

The partnership, which began in 2007 and ran for seven years, was reportedly worth up to £50 million a year to McLaren.

The Woking team opted not to replace them and to this day have been without a title sponsor. It’s a business plan Brown intends to continue.

Although they have a host of sponsors from British-American Tobacco (A Better Tomorrow) to Monster Energy to Richard Mille with their extensive list almost up to 50, what they don’t have is one huge title sponsor.

“From day one, I wanted us not to be dependent on a sponsor. If you look at our partners, we aren’t either,” McLaren CEO Brown said as per Motorsport-Magazin.

“If you have a title sponsor, like some teams, then that’s dangerous. Because if that sponsor leaves you, you have a big gap to fill.”

“I like the approach we have taken,” he added. “It would have to be the right brand and the right partnership, then we would be open to something like that.”

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As for McLaren’s growing list of sponsors, Brown says McLaren don’t take that for granted with their hard work on the track paying off in the books.

“We have to stay grounded because we know where we came from. We earned it the hard way and I think that was a good thing,” the American said.

“So we know what it feels like. It makes us work even harder to make sure it doesn’t happen again and we don’t take anything for granted.”

McLaren, Williams and Haas are the three teams on this year’s grid who do not have title sponsors after Ferrari signed with HP in April.

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