Weeks after Penske's IndyCar scandal, Zak Brown sets up "whistleblowing hotline" at Arrow McLaren

Over the past few weeks, IndyCar witnessed a déjà vu as Team Penske was brought into the courtroom for its illegal modifications, and McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown revealed how he has taken pre-emptive measures at his own team. The 53-year-old elaborated on the setup of a "whistleblowing hotline" intended to curb any potential scandal tainting the team's reputation.

Since the start of the 2025 season, a myriad of drivers have faced the wrath of failing technical inspection and have been docked points along with fines for wrongdoings. However, the Team Penske scandal was brought to light ahead of the Fast 12 qualifying at the Indy 500.

This earned the Mooresville-based squad a hefty fine and led two of its three charters to start on the last row. On the other hand, this threw mud on Roger Penske's reputation in the racing world as talks about a conflict of interest soon started emerging in the paddock.

To avoid a similar situation in light of the increased tendency for teams failing inspections, Zak Brown formed a whistleblowing hotline for every team member to report any misconduct to him or the team principal, Tony Kanaan. Opening up on it, the former said (via The Race):

"What I've done with the team, and I've reiterated it now, is: here's how McLaren goes racing, here's what's acceptable, here's what's not acceptable, and here's a whistle-blowing hotline. So if your boss tells you to do something that you know is not right, here's my phone number or here's Tony's phone number. I've gone in and preached many times, but I took the opportunity just so it's totally clear to everyone at McLaren."

After Team Penske was found to be guilty of making illegal modifications to its cars, Brown had a meeting at the Detroit Grand Prix with the Captain himself.

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Zak Brown revealed the details of his meeting with Roger Penske

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown - Source: Getty

Zak Brown is known to be upfront about his opinions in any series that McLaren races in. With the IndyCar series, the IMS, and Team Penske being owned by Roger Penske, suspicions are bound to arise about the motorsport tycoon owner.

Moreover, to clear any doubts regarding the recent scandal, the 53-year-old met Roger Penske at the Detroit Grand Prix weekend. He then shared his insights from the meeting and said (via Forbes):

"We covered everything from tech, to cars, the fans, the races, conflict of interest, the perception of conflict of interest, and I felt he was listening to me. I called it as I see it, which I think is the right way to do it."

Arrow McLaren is waiting to win a race this year, with all three of its drivers failing to get near the top step of the podium.