Zak Brown gives no-nonsense verdict on McLaren potentially leaving IndyCar

McLaren CEO Zak Brown recently came out and commented on the growth potential of the IndyCar series. The McLaren Boss shared his concerns while also delivering a no-nonsense verdict about the Papaya team leaving the American open-wheel racing series if Penske Entertainment isn't able to grow the series.

McLaren’s IndyCar programme and Formula-E programme’s operation came under the first from the shareholders as the Papaya team plans on entering the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in the near future. The question arose whether the team wanted to pool in the resources for the new challenge or divert them from other racing ventures.

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Zak Brown came out and explained the same during his interview with IndyStar. The McLaren CEO reflected on IndyCar's vision for the future, and criticised the conservative, cost-sensitive approach of the series. Brown suggested that if IndyCar’s growth in the near future doesn't match his and the shareholders’ expectations, then it might lead to the team exiting the IndyCar series.

“If the sport doesn't grow, then yeah…” said Zak Brown about McLaren's potential exit.

“But I'm in the offense not defense mindset, so I'm going to do everything I can to make sure the sport grows and be vocal about it and be constructive and positive,” he added.

"Why weren't we in WEC before? Because costs were out of control and competition wasn't great. So yeah, if scenarios change and IndyCar didn't remain commercially viable because you've got bad races or you lose your TV partner, those questions will be asked,” concluded Zak Brown.

IndyCar signed a deal with FOX, giving the media network the broadcasting rights, which has led to an increase in the viewership of the series. However, the American open-wheel racing series is still not matching NASCAR or F1 when it comes to viewership.

On the other hand, only 6000 tickets were sold for the recent IndyCar races at Iowa, which again raised concerns about the series' growth.

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Zak Brown on IndyCar's “cost containment” approach hindering the “growth”

Former Andretti Global team Boss Michael Andretti came out a few years ago and slammed Roger Penske and Co. for not investing in the IndyCar series. Zak Brown recently came out and also detailed IndyCar's “cost containment” approach, which has hindered the growth of the American open-wheel racing series. Brown said,

“There's putting money into this sport to keep it going, and then there's playing offense, and I think we as a sport talk too much about cost containment and not growth. You're never going to cut your way to success. Definitely, cost-containment is important, but I feel like the meetings I'm in, it's 70% cost containment and 30% growth, and I think that needs to go the other way around.” (via IndyStar)

IndyCar is set to introduce a new chassis for the 2027 season, which is believed to be based around cutting operational costs rather than improving performance.