- Zak Brown sets a clear financial condition for McLaren to manufacture its own engine.
- FIA president Ben Sulayem names McLaren as a likely beneficiary of a V8 return.
- Brown defends the 2026 rules amid Verstappen’s growing threats to quit F1.
McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown says the Woking outfit would consider building its own Formula 1 power unit, but only if the financial case stacks up.
Brown made the remarks to the media, including the Sports Business Journal, at last weekend’s Indianapolis 500. It is the first time McLaren has publicly stated the conditions under which it would pursue becoming a full works team.
The price of ambition
Brown was clear about what it would take. “I think if you got an engine formula that was financially viable, then, yeah, we would consider it and the technology,” he said.
He added that any decision would begin with the numbers: “If something is presented to us that first financially makes sense, then we’ll have a look at it.”
Brown was not signalling a departure from McLaren’s current arrangement. He stressed that the team “couldn’t be happier with Mercedes High Performance Powertrains.”
McLaren has used Mercedes power since 1995, returned to it for the 2021 season after stints with Honda and Renault between 2015 and 2020, and holds a deal with the German manufacturer through at least 2030.
The V8 proposal that changes everything
Brown’s remarks follow a push by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to return F1 to naturally aspirated V8 engines from 2030 or 2031.
Ben Sulayem has confirmed the FIA holds the authority to introduce V8 engines by 2031 without requiring a vote from power unit manufacturers. He cited cost, weight and a desire to restore purity for drivers and fans as the reasons behind the proposal.
Ben Sulayem also named McLaren directly as a team that could benefit from a simpler engine formula.
“I believe when we introduce it, even McLaren will do their own engine,” he said. “They are buying engines now because it is a complicated unit.”
That remark, from the head of the sport’s governing body, frames the V8 discussion as an opportunity for new manufacturers to enter the field.
The 2026 regulation storm
Brown’s comments arrived during a period of sharp debate over F1’s 2026 technical regulations. Max Verstappen has been among the loudest critics, describing the new cars as “Formula E on steroids” and “not a lot of fun” to drive.
The Dutchman has threatened to leave the sport if the rules are not changed, and his frustration deepened after a proposed shift in the power split for 2027 became entangled in manufacturer politics.
The proposed change would move from a near 50-50 split between combustion and electrical power to a 60-40 arrangement.
It would require support from at least four of the six manufacturers on the Power Unit Advisory Committee. That threshold has so far proven difficult to reach, renewing Verstappen’s threats to walk away.
Brown offered a different view of what fans are actually seeing on track. “The racing is great, if you didn’t hear the drivers and were just watching on TV, the TV product is great,” he said.
“There’s passing, five different leaders in Miami, passes for the lead, so I think the fans watching the race are going, ‘That’s a damn exciting race.'”
Battery management, not a dealbreaker
Brown did not dismiss the drivers’ concerns entirely. He framed them as part of a settling-in period and pointed to progress already being made.
“We’ve seen the drivers are getting, A, more used to it and, B, the rules are getting more refined,” he said. “We’ll get them maybe not to a perfect place, but there’s always been rule management, tyre management, and now you have battery management.”
He acknowledged that the battery demands have pushed things to an uncomfortable extreme for some drivers. But he stopped well short of calling for a complete overhaul of the rules.
He also noted that F1’s media environment amplifies every problem, saying “everything in Formula 1 has a magnifying glass of 1,000 on it.”
For McLaren, the picture Brown painted is one of stability with an open mind. The team is competitive, settled with Mercedes in the near term, and now publicly willing to explore engine manufacturing if the sport builds a formula that makes it worth their while.
