Speaker 1: I'm Matt Miller and I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is
Speaker 1: Hot Pursuit.
Speaker 2: First of all, I need to shout out the email
Speaker 2: because I always forget at the top of the show,
Speaker 2: and we got a couple of really good emails this week,
Speaker 2: so I was really happy. Shout out to Peter, Shout
Speaker 2: out to Steve. Anyone who wants to shoot us an email.
Speaker 2: Our email address is.
Speaker 1: Hot Pursuit at Bloomberg dot net. And we do love
Speaker 1: hearing from you.
Speaker 3: We do.
Speaker 2: One of the things I hear from people a lot
Speaker 2: is that they really like it when we don't have
Speaker 2: a guest.
Speaker 4: Oh you've heard that.
Speaker 1: I haven't heard that, But I mean I enjoy when
Speaker 1: it's just us girls.
Speaker 5: Yeah you know, yeah, yeah, me too. But we have
Speaker 5: such a good guest. Well today, we have a great guest.
Speaker 2: Next week, we have a great guest the follow So
Speaker 2: we have a line We have a lineup of incredible guests.
Speaker 2: But ever since I watched the five hundred, which I
Speaker 2: was so excited about, and then Monaco, which left me
Speaker 2: just questioning the entire league, I've really wanted to talk
Speaker 2: to Zach Brown, so we got him.
Speaker 4: I love talking to Zach Brown.
Speaker 1: Because he is articulate and he is not so media
Speaker 1: trained that he's really boring.
Speaker 3: He is.
Speaker 5: I think he's just honest.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he just speaks in straight lines, there's no bs.
Speaker 1: He answers questions directly. It's a dream and he's a
Speaker 1: real Yeah, he's a real person.
Speaker 5: Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2: And so and obviously we watched Drive to Survive. You
Speaker 2: see this like battle of this like Axis of Evil
Speaker 2: or whatever. The it's like Darth Vader versus Darth Vader
Speaker 2: when you have Toto and Christian. But I know, Toto
Speaker 2: in real life is a nice guy. You've got Gunter.
Speaker 2: You had Gunter who was like, you know, the crazy guy, a.
Speaker 4: Great personality, and it was a it was a breath
Speaker 4: of fres share of time.
Speaker 2: I would see Zach because he was like down to earth,
Speaker 2: honest dude. Plus he is like a young American, So
Speaker 2: it's nice to see that, you know, in Formula one.
Speaker 4: But anyways, crazy.
Speaker 1: It is crazy though, how chill he comes off when
Speaker 1: you consider everything he's running and operating, Yes, schedule mus
Speaker 1: be nuts.
Speaker 4: It's insane.
Speaker 1: It's he's I mean, did you know that McLaren is
Speaker 1: the only company to win the Indy five hundred twenty
Speaker 1: four hour Lament and Monico.
Speaker 2: I did not know that, but I know they've been
Speaker 2: having an awesome time of it lately. Yeah, because they
Speaker 2: came in second in the Indie. They were second at Monaco,
Speaker 2: they were second before that, they were first. Obviously Lando
Speaker 2: won at Miami, so.
Speaker 4: They're on an upswing for sure.
Speaker 2: Let's get over to Zach Brown, CEO of McLaren without
Speaker 2: any further ado. So my main question is around the
Speaker 2: differences that we watched when Monaco and Indy were happening. Like,
Speaker 2: India was one of the best races I've ever seen.
Speaker 2: I know it was painful for you guys because Paedo
Speaker 2: came in second again and it was a last minute passed,
Speaker 2: but it was so dramatic and it was so emotional right,
Speaker 2: and Monica was like the most boring race I've ever
Speaker 2: seen in my entire life. So the juxtaposition of that,
Speaker 2: I think is I just like to hear your take
Speaker 2: on it.
Speaker 3: I mean, Indy was unbelievable.
Speaker 6: I read it was only the fourth time in the
Speaker 6: history of the Indy five hundred that the lead was
Speaker 6: exchanged on the last lap, which I thought I'd seen
Speaker 6: it more than that, but I read that unless it's
Speaker 6: inaccurate data, but I don't think that's the case.
Speaker 3: It was amazing.
Speaker 6: I mean, we ran so strong all day, Kyle Larson, Pato,
Speaker 6: Alex Rossi, so I thought I thought we had it
Speaker 6: there for a second, but I've been around Indy long
Speaker 6: enough to know that, especially with the drafting, that it's
Speaker 6: kind of dangerous the lead the last lap.
Speaker 3: So that was mass exciting. The team did a wonderful job.
Speaker 6: I think Kyle, had he not had his his penalty
Speaker 6: in pit lane, you know, I think we had three
Speaker 6: cars there would have had three cars there right at
Speaker 6: the end. Callum myloc did a great job finishing. I
Speaker 6: think it was eleventh. So that was a massively exciting race,
Speaker 6: and as Monaco interesting, when you're in the race as
Speaker 6: we were, it's never dull, even though of course I
Speaker 6: understand exactly what you're saying, and it wasn't. It was
Speaker 6: no passing, but I think Formula One it was so
Speaker 6: close and you're just waiting for that driver to make
Speaker 6: a mistake that even though you kind of look at it.
Speaker 3: Now and go, that was boring. There was no passes.
Speaker 3: You're kind of always on your edge.
Speaker 6: Of the seat because if Leclaire locked the brake, touched
Speaker 6: the wall, oscars winning the race. So to me it
Speaker 6: was kind of how many ever laps it was, you know,
Speaker 6: edge of your seat going, is it gonna make a mistake,
Speaker 6: is it gonna make it?
Speaker 3: Just never made a mistake. So I found them both exciting,
Speaker 3: but for different reasons.
Speaker 6: But I think when you're in the game and you're
Speaker 6: running second and fourth in the race in both you
Speaker 6: know your it's edge of your seat stuff, and you know,
Speaker 6: Charles did a great job. Just never made a mistake.
Speaker 6: But two different types of racing, two different types of circuits.
Speaker 6: One that has no passing, you know, Monica unique in
Speaker 6: that sense, and one that has lots of passing on
Speaker 6: a big two and a half mile over.
Speaker 1: You know, McLaren is the only team that competes in
Speaker 1: Formula one, IndyCar, Formula E, You've got Extreme E, you've
Speaker 1: got esports. My big question for you is how do
Speaker 1: you get it all done? Can you give us some
Speaker 1: best practices for how this is sustainable for you? I
Speaker 1: know you just renewed your contract until I think twenty thirty.
Speaker 1: How are you finding your life sustainable? And even joyful.
Speaker 1: I follow you on Instagram of course, and you've got
Speaker 1: you seem very well at ease and like you're enjoying things,
Speaker 1: but I know you're probably paddling furiously underneath everything.
Speaker 6: It's all the above. First of all, I love my job.
Speaker 6: I love McLaren. Always have my favorite team growing up,
Speaker 6: and it's a privilege to work for McLaren. So it's
Speaker 6: a pretty pretty cool job. That's a great place to
Speaker 6: start from. The travels brutal. I think the secret to success,
Speaker 6: if you'd like, is having a great leadership team around me,
Speaker 6: and each racing team is self sufficient, so the IndyCar
Speaker 6: team isn't dependent upon the F one team is in
Speaker 6: dependent upon the formerly team. There's a whole lot of
Speaker 6: commercial centergies, opportunities for our employees, senergy, so there's a
Speaker 6: lot of synergies. But they you know, the Formula one
Speaker 6: team here in Montreal doesn't need anything from the IndyCar
Speaker 6: team and the IndyCar teams racing in Road America this
Speaker 6: weekend and it doesn't need anything from the team Formula one,
Speaker 6: so they can all run independently. The benefit is when
Speaker 6: you put them all together for our commercial partners, for
Speaker 6: employee opportunity. I'm kind of the only fool that flies
Speaker 6: around the world trying to be in all places at
Speaker 6: one time.
Speaker 3: But I love it. It's what I've been doing my
Speaker 3: whole whole life.
Speaker 6: It certainly has its days where you know, you can
Speaker 6: just get tired, but I'm never tired of it. I
Speaker 6: just sometimes lack sleep, but you know, I love being
Speaker 6: around these racing teams. Fortunately, in the digital world we
Speaker 6: live in. If I'm in the Indy five hundred, I've
Speaker 6: got my double triple top secret Dell laptop like I
Speaker 6: am on pit walls, so I feel like I'm very
Speaker 6: connected to the Formula One team even if I'm not there.
Speaker 6: I'll do the same this weekend here in Montreal. I'll
Speaker 6: be watching the Road America race and be dialed into Gavin.
Speaker 6: He's running that team, so big organization, but we're in
Speaker 6: the racing business and it's all running pretty smoothly. It
Speaker 6: was great to in the same weekend finish second in
Speaker 6: China and a formerly race second at the eighty five hundred,
Speaker 6: second in Monica. Bittersweet that they weren't three wins, but
Speaker 6: pretty cool, but I think that shows how well each
Speaker 6: team operates. Independently, and I had no sleep that entire weekend, and.
Speaker 1: The win in Miami was incredible.
Speaker 4: I got to saw that too.
Speaker 1: That must have felt like such a triumph for you
Speaker 1: guys and most awesome in the US.
Speaker 4: I think, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was.
Speaker 6: I think it was awesome for the sport. I think
Speaker 6: it was awesome for McLaren and Orlando is such a
Speaker 6: huge popular win. Obviously, everyone wants to see a little
Speaker 6: bit less dominance. Everyone loves Lando. I've never met someone
Speaker 6: who's not a Orlando fan. McLaren's obviously a team with
Speaker 6: rich history that I think we have awesome fans, So
Speaker 6: I think it was a very popular win at the
Speaker 6: right time. I think Lando, while he would never admit it,
Speaker 6: be in the driver with the most podiums ever without
Speaker 6: a win is a bittersweet statistic that now that's behind him,
Speaker 6: I think more wins are coming. And since then we've
Speaker 6: had two second places, so a lot of racing left
Speaker 6: to go in the season, and we're pushing hard to
Speaker 6: make sure that that was our first win of the
Speaker 6: year and not our last win of the year.
Speaker 1: I like that, and I like that you said the
Speaker 1: less dominance turn of phrase that you had in there.
Speaker 1: I have to imagine that next year, you know, with
Speaker 1: Lewis changing teams and Adrian Newey changing teams, we could
Speaker 1: expect a bit of a shuffle and who makes the podium?
Speaker 1: Is that?
Speaker 5: And with McLaren's resurgence this year, I mean.
Speaker 1: Sure, of course, yeah, of course you guys are on
Speaker 1: a rise.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think you know, if I look at the
Speaker 6: teams on the grid, First of all, the grid's never
Speaker 6: been sure, so I think it would be a big
Speaker 6: mistake to discount any.
Speaker 3: Of the teams.
Speaker 6: But if we look at our most current petition, if
Speaker 6: you'd like, I think we've got a tremendous amount of stability,
Speaker 6: energy momentum. I think we've got the best driver lineup
Speaker 6: on the grid of a combination of experience and youth
Speaker 6: and longevity.
Speaker 3: So I think in any sport.
Speaker 6: Stability, visibility, camaraderie, teamwork is critically important. I think we've
Speaker 6: got that going on. I think Ferrari has that going on.
Speaker 6: Obviously they've got a driver change that they need to
Speaker 6: work through, but guiding for the sport, I think their
Speaker 6: team principal is doing an excellent job. So I look
Speaker 6: at Ferrari and go They're going to be pretty dangerous.
Speaker 6: I think Mercedes is impossible to count out, but I
Speaker 6: think they are going through some transition. They don't yet
Speaker 6: know their driver lineup for next year, so I think
Speaker 6: they have a little bit of uncertainty, which an unbelievable team,
Speaker 6: but that uncertainty I think makes it a little bit difficult.
Speaker 6: And then Red Bull is a pretty toxic environment, you know,
Speaker 6: with everything that's been going on there.
Speaker 4: It sort of seems like blown over.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's more to come.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 6: You know, Adrian Newie leaving is a big deal because
Speaker 6: there's a lot of people that are probably there that
Speaker 6: wanted to work alongside Adrian Newey and I made the
Speaker 6: comment there's some cvs flying around, there are and there's
Speaker 6: always CBS flying around, but you can see a higher
Speaker 6: level of discomfort there. I think it's harder for them
Speaker 6: in the in the future with what's kind of gone on, uh,
Speaker 6: with with kind of the situation for sponsors, you know,
Speaker 6: I think, you know, sponsors they kind of look at
Speaker 6: who they're associated with, what if they stand. I think
Speaker 6: that's a tricky situation. And then you know, the whole
Speaker 6: for stopping drama. Willie stay Willy go he's got a contract.
Speaker 6: You know, you've seen his father be very outspoken. So
Speaker 6: I think that's unbelievably a great racing team, but a
Speaker 6: pretty destabilized environment. And I think you're seeing that with
Speaker 6: Adrian Leeds, so I think again, how could you ever
Speaker 6: count them out? It's an unbelievable team, But that's a
Speaker 6: team that my mind isn't on strong footing right now
Speaker 6: to where they have been in the past. Ashton's not
Speaker 6: far behind, you know, they've they've fallen back a little
Speaker 6: bit here this year, but we're really strong last year.
Speaker 6: So I think you got to take them all seriously,
Speaker 6: of course, but I kind of look at who has
Speaker 6: the clearest path of visibility and momentum and it kind
Speaker 6: of feels like it's Ferrari and McLaren at the moment.
Speaker 6: But things can change pretty quick, so we got to
Speaker 6: keep our feet on the ground.
Speaker 1: Does McLaren have some empty job positions available for any
Speaker 1: anyone who may be jumping ship at at any any
Speaker 1: other organization potentially?
Speaker 6: I'm I couldn't be happier with our racing team, but
Speaker 6: things are always moving fast and evolving, and you know,
Speaker 6: anytime someone with a great skill set comes on the
Speaker 6: market if you like, you know, you'd be silly not
Speaker 6: to have conversations. But I love what Andrea Stella has
Speaker 6: done and leading our team the momentum we have, it's
Speaker 6: clearly working. So anything we can do to turbo charge
Speaker 6: that we're always open for you, always trying to go faster.
Speaker 6: But I like the race car that our team's putting
Speaker 6: on the racetrack right now.
Speaker 2: By the way, you have been at the Helm not
Speaker 2: only for the resurgence of your team, but really for
Speaker 2: the resurgence of the sport and racing. I mean, I
Speaker 2: read a comment you were talking about the fact that
Speaker 2: Williams was sold for one hundred and fifty million a
Speaker 2: few years back and now it's worth at least ten
Speaker 2: x And I just think, you know, the popularity of
Speaker 2: this already incredibly popular sport has grown so much in
Speaker 2: the last few years. Is that all down to drive
Speaker 2: to survive or to what do you attribute that?
Speaker 6: I don't think it's all down to drive and survive,
Speaker 6: but I think it's definitely played a big role. I
Speaker 6: think what it's all down to is liberty and when
Speaker 6: they acquired the sport, the way they've reshaped the sport,
Speaker 6: focus on the fan, get the teams to kind of
Speaker 6: show that the fans behind the curtain, you know, how
Speaker 6: the sport works, which I think Netflix has played a
Speaker 6: big role there. So I think where the credits do
Speaker 6: is due to Liberty. Netflix has certainly had its role
Speaker 6: within that. But look at what's happened in North America.
Speaker 6: We've gone from one race to three races and new
Speaker 6: television partner Netflix. We've got Brad Pitt movie coming, which
Speaker 6: you know, who isn't going to watch the next Brad
Speaker 6: Pitt movie and going to be Brad Pitt Formula One driver.
Speaker 6: So we've brought in women to the sport, We've brought
Speaker 6: a youth to the sport. We've really made great strides
Speaker 6: and sustainability. So I think you've got to look at
Speaker 6: what Liberty has done for the sport as a whole
Speaker 6: and all the participants in it. The way we've embraced it.
Speaker 6: And it took a little bit of time. You know,
Speaker 6: when Netflix came out year one, Mercedes and Ferrari didn't participate,
Speaker 6: which was a bit of an old school thinking, you know,
Speaker 6: we don't want to show what's behind the scenes or
Speaker 6: the money's not great enough. And I think what the
Speaker 6: sport has woken up to and has embraced is let's
Speaker 6: focus on the fan and then everything else will fall
Speaker 6: into place. And that's exactly what we've done.
Speaker 3: And we have more.
Speaker 6: Fans than we've ever had, more Grand Prix than we've
Speaker 6: ever had, ten unbelievably healthy racing teams, so it's like
Speaker 6: everything is just green, green, green, go go go right now.
Speaker 3: In Form one.
Speaker 6: And to me, what's really exciting is I don't see
Speaker 6: that trajectory going anywhere other than North because the racing's
Speaker 6: getting even better and the teams are healthier, and we
Speaker 6: have demand for more Grand Prix than ever, so I
Speaker 6: think in many ways we're just getting started.
Speaker 1: Can there ever be too many Grand Prix in North America?
Speaker 1: I mean at five and there's there always seems to
Speaker 1: be rumbling that there could be one in Chicago or
Speaker 1: New York. You know, is there a critical mass, so
Speaker 1: to speak?
Speaker 6: I think there is, and I think we're there now,
Speaker 6: and I'll break that down for you. I think twenty
Speaker 6: four races is the maximum we can do. It's it's
Speaker 6: it's a brutal number. I'm put aside the fact that
Speaker 6: I would go race fifty two times a year. I
Speaker 6: wouldn't be very popular with my racing team if I
Speaker 6: was a proponent of that. So but I'm a little
Speaker 6: bit a petrol in my bloodnut that others don't. So
Speaker 6: twenty four, I think is the max I think we
Speaker 6: need to. I'd be an advocate of like twenty fixed races,
Speaker 6: an eight that rotate every other year. So you maintain
Speaker 6: the twenty four race schedule, but you continue to grow
Speaker 6: the reach in the markets because the demand is there.
Speaker 6: Then of course, who are those that get it every
Speaker 6: other year? I think we're maximum capacity in America's you
Speaker 6: know three in North three in the States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil.
Speaker 6: That's awesome, I don't think While I think the sport
Speaker 6: would embrace more, I think that would come to the
Speaker 6: detriment of other parts of the world. I'd love to
Speaker 6: see another race or two in Asia. I'd love to
Speaker 6: see us in South Africa, you know, et cetera. So
Speaker 6: I think the sport and the fans would embrace more races.
Speaker 6: But I think we're a global championship and we have
Speaker 6: some other pockets of the world we need to work on.
Speaker 6: So I think The only way you could bring in
Speaker 6: another North American race is if that became part of
Speaker 6: a rotation, because again, I'd love to see us in Korea.
Speaker 3: I'd love to see us in Thailand. We almost got
Speaker 3: into Vietnam.
Speaker 6: I'd love South South Africa, some of these other territories,
Speaker 6: and to make sure that we continue to expand our
Speaker 6: our global footprint, India would be a great market to
Speaker 6: be in. So so I think we're in a good,
Speaker 6: good place in America.
Speaker 5: Can you bail on Monica?
Speaker 4: I was just gonna ask that that's what we mean.
Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, Zach, can't they just do qualifying and
Speaker 2: then go to a cocktail party?
Speaker 3: Because could we bail on Monaco? We could?
Speaker 6: You know, I think the sport is so strong and
Speaker 6: we have so many awesome races.
Speaker 3: You know, could we we could? Should we will? We?
Speaker 6: I don't think we should and I don't think we will,
Speaker 6: but could we?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 4: I think alternating years.
Speaker 6: I mean, you know, certainly that could could fall into
Speaker 6: that camp if you'd like. Uh, you know, the spectacle
Speaker 6: is still amazing, the TV ratings are still very strong.
Speaker 3: Of course, it isn't a you know, it's a pure race.
Speaker 6: It has the least amount of passing, always has, always will.
Speaker 6: I think, you know, the sport is commercially so strong
Speaker 6: that you know, it's always kind of had one of
Speaker 6: the more favorable UH.
Speaker 3: Terms and conditions.
Speaker 6: I think they need to get caught up there because
Speaker 6: you know, we are in a commercial sport, and one
Speaker 6: could argue, wait a minute, some of these other venues
Speaker 6: are driving similar TV ratings, you know, great racing and
Speaker 6: contributing a lot more to the growth of the sport fiscally.
Speaker 6: You know, you've got the Miamis, the Vegas Is, the Singapore's.
Speaker 6: I mean, these are all awesome races.
Speaker 3: So I'd be surprised if it didn't stay on the calendar.
Speaker 6: But if it were in a way, would it create
Speaker 6: a lot of noise and the short term yes, would
Speaker 6: people move on and Formula one to be as strong
Speaker 6: as ever?
Speaker 1: I think it.
Speaker 2: Do you get more recognition in the US by far
Speaker 2: for F one because Indy has been so exciting the
Speaker 2: last few years, and when I was a kid in
Speaker 2: the middle of America, people packed up RVs and went
Speaker 2: to Indianapolis like it was the greatest spectacle in racing.
Speaker 2: But it just seems like F one has eclipsed every
Speaker 2: other league by far.
Speaker 3: Formala one has done an amazing job.
Speaker 6: I think there is a lot IndyCar could learn from
Speaker 6: Formula One. I think there's a lot Formula One can
Speaker 6: learn from IndyCar. We can all learn from each other's sport,
Speaker 6: but Formal One's done an unbelievable job. Yes, you know,
Speaker 6: I do get a lot more commentary if you'd like,
Speaker 6: when I'm in North America about Formula One than IndyCar.
Speaker 6: I think there's a tremendous amount of untapped potential in IndyCar,
Speaker 6: but we need to pick up the pace. I think
Speaker 6: there's a lot of opportunity, some of which were seizing
Speaker 6: and other areas that we need to catch up on
Speaker 6: and we need to kind of throw.
Speaker 3: It up a gear or two, and I'm confident we will.
Speaker 6: But there's a lot of opportunity, and I think we
Speaker 6: need to pick up the pace because it was long
Speaker 6: ago Formula one had no profile in North America, and
Speaker 6: now you know, we do have to ask ourselves with
Speaker 6: our Indie Car had on put aside Indy five hundred
Speaker 6: television ratings, why does Formula one have greater television ratings
Speaker 6: than IndyCar?
Speaker 3: In our home.
Speaker 6: Market in awkward time zones where we only race a
Speaker 6: few times a year, And I think that's a bit
Speaker 6: of a wake up call. Is too we can be
Speaker 6: and should be doing a better job because the racing
Speaker 6: and the product is great. So we have to ask ourselves,
Speaker 6: why is Miami and Monaco when, to your point, wasn't
Speaker 6: the most exciting racing. Why is Monaco getting a bigger
Speaker 6: television rating in our home market than all of our
Speaker 6: other race is outside of the Indy five hundred. So
Speaker 6: I think it's a bit of a wake up call.
Speaker 1: Are you saying that Indie needs a rebrand, a complete
Speaker 1: my brand?
Speaker 3: I think they're I woudn't necessarily rebranded.
Speaker 6: I think we need to continue to really focus on
Speaker 6: the consumer. I think there's a lot of room for
Speaker 6: improvement around our digital experience or our outreach to the fans.
Speaker 6: I think we could use a refresh, excuse me of
Speaker 6: the product. Our racing cars have been around for quite
Speaker 6: some time. I think the calendar has room for improvement.
Speaker 6: So I think there's lots of opportunity. We just need
Speaker 6: to seize it. I'm confident we will. There's a lot
Speaker 6: of conversations going on around, you know, freshening up the products.
Speaker 6: I don't think it necessarily needs a rebrand, but I
Speaker 6: need to. I think it needs a refreshing. I mean,
Speaker 6: I think we have to be real when looking at
Speaker 6: the data and the statistics and go, you know what,
Speaker 6: why do is Formula one come into our home market
Speaker 6: and not long ago had lesser television ratings and now
Speaker 6: has greater television ratings. So I think that uh, you know,
Speaker 6: you know, but I think the good news is I
Speaker 6: think the product is right.
Speaker 3: We just need to do a better job.
Speaker 2: Roger Penske needs to call John alone.
Speaker 3: I'll leave that Roger and.
Speaker 4: John, Well, I'm curious.
Speaker 1: You know, it is ironic that an American company, Liberty Media,
Speaker 1: is the is, like you said, sort of the catalyst
Speaker 1: to launching Formula one in the US and really making
Speaker 1: it acceptable to American consumers. That just seems ironic. Does
Speaker 1: it take an American sensibility to translate some of these
Speaker 1: at least European style?
Speaker 4: Raising?
Speaker 2: Obviously glad they bought MotoGP yeah, which is already amazing.
Speaker 6: I think they're gonna do great with Moto GP. I
Speaker 6: think the you know, you never want to kind of
Speaker 6: stereotype region. Sure, I think we've got to give a
Speaker 6: lot of credit to Austin Coda. They did a fantastic
Speaker 6: job during and Formula one back, and then it's just
Speaker 6: built on itself, and you know, you need date equity.
Speaker 3: People need to get familiar with the drivers.
Speaker 6: And I think what Netflix did, especially in North America's
Speaker 6: kind of lift the cover off of how does the
Speaker 6: sport work, and the personalities and the drama and the politics,
Speaker 6: and I think, you know, the American fan really likes
Speaker 6: to get personal with their sport, and I think formerly One,
Speaker 6: historically pre Liberty, been a little bit of a look
Speaker 6: but don't touch type of sport, and now it's a
Speaker 6: let us get to know these twenty awesome racing drivers
Speaker 6: and the team bosses, and I think fans around the world,
Speaker 6: and I think the reason why it's had such a
Speaker 6: big impact in America's I think it's always been big
Speaker 6: in Europe and understood, but it was.
Speaker 3: Kind of like a.
Speaker 6: Fresh sport to America and Netflix helped kind of put
Speaker 6: that front and center, and people have responded and it's
Speaker 6: been great. I get more commentary now from people in
Speaker 6: America that go and it'll be a guy, a father,
Speaker 6: a husband, and I can't tell you often he goes
Speaker 6: my daughter loves Forem and my daughter loves Lando Norris
Speaker 6: or my wife won't stop watching it. And what it's
Speaker 6: done is it's taken, which is I think been the
Speaker 6: most amazing part. It's taking people from having no awareness
Speaker 6: to avid fan overnight. I hear so often I won't
Speaker 6: miss a Grand Prix now versus I'm aware and I
Speaker 6: kind of like it. They're like diehard fans. So it's
Speaker 6: been amazing and we just need to continue to build
Speaker 6: on that.
Speaker 2: Does it make a difference to your sales, Zach, I mean,
Speaker 2: especially as you guys have started on a winning run lately,
Speaker 2: are you is it possible to sell more McLaren's.
Speaker 4: Went on Sunday?
Speaker 6: Yeah, definitely, Yeah, exactly a good old phrase. It doesn't
Speaker 6: quite work that easily. We don't see necessarily big spikes
Speaker 6: on Monday, but you can see North America is our
Speaker 6: biggest market for our automotive business and continues to grow,
Speaker 6: and you can see how many McLaren automotive fans or
Speaker 6: fans of the Formula One team and vice versa. So
Speaker 6: we're fortunate, like a few others in the sport where
Speaker 6: we've got these two awesome brands in the world to
Speaker 6: collide and and we help scratch each other's back.
Speaker 4: If you like, what do you drive?
Speaker 5: Yeah? What do you What do you like to drive?
Speaker 6: Well, my my daily driver is a bit more of
Speaker 6: a range rover because it's not the easiest place in
Speaker 6: the world to navigate. Of course, I've got my McLaren's
Speaker 6: in the garage. But I'm a I'm a car junkie.
Speaker 6: So if your name is sports car, I've got one
Speaker 6: of those.
Speaker 4: So can you collect too, right? Memorabilia? Sports memorabilia.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm a big baseball fan, ice hockey fan as
Speaker 6: far as collecting collectible documents, so I've got a uh,
Speaker 6: pretty awesome collection. It's all my childhood uh dreams, and
Speaker 6: I wanted to be a baseball player an ice hockey player.
Speaker 3: Didn't quite work out. But I'm fortunate now.
Speaker 6: A lot of baseball players, hockey players, golfers I just
Speaker 6: came back from the memorial or fans of the sport.
Speaker 6: So it's a it's a privilege being in the position
Speaker 6: I'm in to be able to meet a lot of
Speaker 6: my heroes and idols growing up. I don't think they
Speaker 6: quite realize it, because I think they're equally as excited
Speaker 6: to kind of come to a Formula One race. But
Speaker 6: it's pretty cool having Albert PUOs and Paul Goldschmidt and
Speaker 6: Timo Solani, and as I mentioned, I'm when I have
Speaker 6: dinner with Mark Messier, who I've not met through a
Speaker 6: mutual friend, which I'm very excited because I grew up
Speaker 6: watching Mark. He's an awesome player, and so excited to
Speaker 6: meet him. It makes me feel like I'm thirteen fourteen again,
Speaker 6: even though they probably don't appreciate that.
Speaker 3: Dating them now, I want.
Speaker 1: To ask, I see you drinking something out of a
Speaker 1: tea cup. I imagine it's tea. How has it been
Speaker 1: as an American living in the UK.
Speaker 4: You know, do you find.
Speaker 1: Yourself adjusting to quirky British lifestyles?
Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 6: But you know, back when I was racing, I lived
Speaker 6: in England, so I live there from ninety one to
Speaker 6: ninety four. I've been there now, it's about twelve years.
Speaker 6: I love Europe, love England. I love traveling, always been
Speaker 6: a fan of it. I definitely think I've picked up
Speaker 6: some of the the the quirks if you'd like to
Speaker 6: call them that, But I haven't left my American ones
Speaker 6: behind it all, so I'm a bit of a mutt.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 6: No one can quite figure out my accent or but
Speaker 6: it still kind of sounds the same to me.
Speaker 2: By the way, when I'm looking through bring a trailer,
Speaker 2: which is like an addiction for me. It annoys me
Speaker 2: when I see a right hand drive car that I
Speaker 2: want because it's just it's just wrong.
Speaker 5: Do you buy right hand drive cars? I mean, for
Speaker 5: your car, I got.
Speaker 3: A bit of everything.
Speaker 6: I mean, if I have a choice, then I'm buying
Speaker 6: a left hand drive, but I have both in the
Speaker 6: in the collection.
Speaker 3: It kind of depends.
Speaker 6: If it's a British car, you're gonna end up with
Speaker 6: a right hand drive, you know, as it should be
Speaker 6: by plenty of left hand drive.
Speaker 3: I'd say I'm probably three corps.
Speaker 2: When you want a car, do you know what you
Speaker 2: want and find it or do you look around and
Speaker 2: something strikes you're fancy and you're like, oh, i'd like that.
Speaker 6: It kind of depends if it's a roadcar, if it's
Speaker 6: a race car. If it's a roadcar, I know what
Speaker 6: I want. I kind of know where to go. I've
Speaker 6: got a few dealer friends if you like, that will
Speaker 6: sort me out. If it's a race car, you can
Speaker 6: either kind of react. So one that i'd been chasing
Speaker 6: for years was Nigel Mantle's in the championship car from
Speaker 6: nineteen ninety three, never had any success, and then Newman
Speaker 6: Hass put it up for auction and I was all
Speaker 6: over that. So the race cars, you kind of know
Speaker 6: what you want, but they're not necessarily always for sales,
Speaker 6: So sometimes it's reacting when you see something that comes
Speaker 6: on the market.
Speaker 1: Do you think the price goes up when people realize
Speaker 1: who they're selling to, or do you try to keep
Speaker 1: it a little anonymous if you're interested.
Speaker 6: It kind of depends who it is and what it is.
Speaker 6: You know, you mentioned to bring a trailer. That was
Speaker 6: one where I I hid, you know, handle it. No,
Speaker 6: I had a friend do it for me, a buddy
Speaker 6: named Alan. Where McLaren's motor home from nineteen seventy two.
Speaker 6: And I bought this a few years ago, and I
Speaker 6: think at one auction story of the the year where
Speaker 6: it was McLaren's nineteen seventy two motor home. It was awesome,
Speaker 6: a Ford Condor, and I was like, I definitely have
Speaker 6: to have this, but I don't want anyone to know
Speaker 6: who's bidding for it. And the owner had had it
Speaker 6: for quite some time, so I had my buddy bid.
Speaker 6: He won it, and then everyone it was quite a
Speaker 6: little bit of a bidding war, and then my buddy said, well,
Speaker 6: you're never going to outbid the CEO of McLaren And
Speaker 6: then everyone just went nuts, including the owner, who had
Speaker 6: a bit of a tiary moment because he had it
Speaker 6: for quite some time. He wanted to go to the
Speaker 6: right home and you know, one new and that then
Speaker 6: became quite a cool story. And I love sharing the
Speaker 6: history of the sport with everyone. I'm happy to share
Speaker 6: that I'm the biggest fan of motorsports and the history
Speaker 6: of the sports, so I feel like it's part of
Speaker 6: my role. I remember what an impression when I went
Speaker 6: to the Long Beach Grand Prix in nineteen eighty one.
Speaker 6: It made on me as a ten year old, and
Speaker 6: so I feel part of my role at McLaren is
Speaker 6: to share how cool this sport is with the fans.
Speaker 6: So I'm always stopping and talking to them, happy to
Speaker 6: share these stories. And when you get into the car
Speaker 6: collection and things of that nature. You know, while I
Speaker 6: have them in my racing facility, we get them out.
Speaker 6: I like to share them, like to tell people the
Speaker 6: stories because I know what an impression it made on me,
Speaker 6: and I hope that someone, you know, ten twenty thirty
Speaker 6: years from now goes. I remember meeting Zach and it
Speaker 6: was cool. He let me look at the car, introduce
Speaker 6: me to Lando. We stop and talk to me, because
Speaker 6: that's what our sport is about. It's about the fans.
Speaker 2: By the way, on that note, do you and you
Speaker 2: mentioned bring more women in the sport?
Speaker 5: And Hannah and I talk a lot about the.
Speaker 2: Academy and trying to get more women to drive. How
Speaker 2: do you groom young talent? Do you have specific programs
Speaker 2: for that? When you're talking to little girls and boys,
Speaker 2: do you say, hey, you guys should try doing some
Speaker 2: laps in the go cart? I mean, how does that work?
Speaker 3: Yeah? You know.
Speaker 6: One, it's about creating awareness so people you want to
Speaker 6: get involved in motorsports. Obviously the driving is the most
Speaker 6: famous part, but you know, it's important to us to
Speaker 6: get young boys and girls involved in all aspects of
Speaker 6: the sport, whether they want to be engineers or marketeers.
Speaker 6: Or racing drivers, whatever the case may be. So a
Speaker 6: lot of it is about just creating awareness so there's
Speaker 6: excitement to participate, and then it's about creating opportunity, so
Speaker 6: we have we just announced a program called sixty Scholars.
Speaker 6: Last year was our sixty year birthday and it was
Speaker 6: sixty opportunities for young women ages eighteen to twenty three
Speaker 6: to get involved with McLaren around STEM. So we're just
Speaker 6: trying to create awareness opportunity. It's why we got involved
Speaker 6: in extremely where you have a male and female racing driver.
Speaker 6: So we had, for the first ever time a couple
Speaker 6: of years ago, announced first ever female McLaren racing driver.
Speaker 6: We've extended that to the F one Academy, which is
Speaker 6: an all female racing series. So we're doing everything we
Speaker 6: can to create awareness, to create opportunity, to have a
Speaker 6: more diverse workforce and fan base, and it's exciting.
Speaker 1: So that was Zach Brown, and Wow, what a treat
Speaker 1: to have him. He always says something that is new
Speaker 1: or interesting or just sort of changes how I understand
Speaker 1: racing and American car culture.
Speaker 4: I really he's great.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, for example, the fact that F one could
Speaker 2: possibly go without Monaco He made me kind of understand
Speaker 2: that in a way that I haven't been thinking about
Speaker 2: the last few weeks. Like not that they don't want
Speaker 2: to and he doesn't think they will, but they could
Speaker 2: survive because they're strong enough that they don't need it.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that's probably the voice of reason, like, yes,
Speaker 1: everyone will freak out, and then everyone will get on
Speaker 1: with their life and you know, they'll move on.
Speaker 2: It's interesting also to think about IndyCar just doesn't do
Speaker 2: enough to promote itself and I don't know, they're obviously
Speaker 2: not as big and global, but Liberty has really worked
Speaker 2: some magic with F one. They're gonna be able to
Speaker 2: do that easily with Moto GP, which is on the
Speaker 2: rise in an amazing series anyway, But imagine if that
Speaker 2: touch could come over to it to Indy.
Speaker 4: That would honestly be awesome. Yeah, that'd be really cool.
Speaker 5: So we have a couple of other great guests in
Speaker 5: the next few weeks.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's safe to tease Jim Farley of
Speaker 2: Ford and get his take. He's a huge racing fan
Speaker 2: as well. They're now involved with F one as well.
Speaker 2: He has a I think at least a couple but
Speaker 2: maybe a collection of old racing cars that he likes.
Speaker 2: I saw him out on a in a nineteen seventy
Speaker 2: two Lola once set.
Speaker 5: A track in Dearborne.
Speaker 1: So yeah, he's another one that's like just a dude,
Speaker 1: Like he's a big boss. He's he's very powerful, but
Speaker 1: then when you talk to him.
Speaker 4: He's like a dude.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know.
Speaker 4: It's really interesting.
Speaker 5: With also a great podcast.
Speaker 2: I've learned a lot about Farley through the podcast, but
Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to that. And then in a couple
Speaker 2: of weeks from that, we're going to talk to Tom
Speaker 2: Wagner in his role as the head of Nighthead Capital
Speaker 2: singer Revology Yota, a racing team that does WC World
Speaker 2: Endurance Racing, so they do Lamont and they even own
Speaker 2: like a British soccer team.
Speaker 4: I'm really curious to talk to him. I've never met him.
Speaker 5: Have you met him think cycling?
Speaker 2: I have in like not in a car guy sense,
Speaker 2: but in a business sense, just in my role as
Speaker 2: an anchor here over the last couple of years on
Speaker 2: Bloomer Television, I've interviewed him, but I've never I never
Speaker 2: realized that he was the head of this giant car
Speaker 2: sports conglomerate.
Speaker 5: So I'm excited to uh to touch base with him.
Speaker 1: This is an example of someone who's not famous and
Speaker 1: not really a name outside of certain circles, but who
Speaker 1: actually controls a lot and who has their hands in
Speaker 1: a lot of different facets that affect a lot of
Speaker 1: different people.
Speaker 5: Right, he's pretty famous because they unhurts. Also, Okay, fine,
Speaker 5: what do you what are you driving this week? What
Speaker 5: have you got going on in the car space?
Speaker 1: I received the Mercedes Ban's e q E five hundred
Speaker 1: in emerald green metallic.
Speaker 5: This so not suv EQE Is it SUV?
Speaker 4: It's a yeah, it's an SUV.
Speaker 1: It's indistinguishable from the other eq E.
Speaker 2: They don't make a great distinction between these products, with
Speaker 2: the with the with the alpha numeric naming thing, it's.
Speaker 1: Difficult to remember which is which, and when all of
Speaker 1: the names and numbers are very similar, and then they
Speaker 1: all look extremely similar, it starts to feel a little
Speaker 1: like alphabet soup.
Speaker 5: Doesn't even look like an SUV. It's like a crossover.
Speaker 4: Well, it looks like a crossover.
Speaker 1: But this is where Cadillac went with their latest Optic too,
Speaker 1: where I truly did ask them. I said, this could
Speaker 1: kind of be a wagon. It has hatchback, it's low,
Speaker 1: it's long, and they're like, yeah, we're calling it an suv.
Speaker 1: But but the lines are very blurred these days. I
Speaker 1: mean it's tomato tomato almost.
Speaker 5: It looks slick. I mean.
Speaker 1: Indicial driving impressions are low. Let me put it that, really,
Speaker 1: this is not a vehicle you will want to purchase
Speaker 1: if you at all enjoy the act of driving.
Speaker 4: Let me put it that.
Speaker 2: Interesting because I like to eqs, which is, you know,
Speaker 2: the bigger version.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, this don't. Don't get this one.
Speaker 1: Then if you want, if you want to feel like
Speaker 1: you're driving fast or fun.
Speaker 2: But I imagine it's still very comfy, packed with leather
Speaker 2: and no.
Speaker 1: No, I think I can't give it a full take
Speaker 1: yet because I really have only had it for twenty
Speaker 1: four hours or thirty six hours.
Speaker 5: But we'll circle back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we need to circle back on it. The jury
Speaker 1: is definitely still out. It certainly is not the high
Speaker 1: end luxury experience that you might find in other Mercedes
Speaker 1: Benz vehicles.
Speaker 5: I haven't gotten.
Speaker 2: I'm hoping for a slew of amazing vehicles later on
Speaker 2: this summer. I really want to drive this right, the
Speaker 2: Mustang dark Horse. I really want to drive the Corvette
Speaker 2: E Ray after that. Have you seen the Jason Comissa
Speaker 2: the Haggerdy video. I don't know why people do drag
Speaker 2: races all the time, because I don't care about a
Speaker 2: drag race. But he nails it with this video of
Speaker 2: drag race. He does the E Ray versus a Lamborghini Hurricane.
Speaker 2: A Ferrari is an F eight I think it's an
Speaker 2: F eight and a and a Corvette Z six OK.
Speaker 2: And interestingly, the E Ray clabbers them all, and but
Speaker 2: it's a It's a more interesting video than just the
Speaker 2: drag race. So I'm really excited to drive that. All
Speaker 2: will drive plus a little a one point nine kilo watt,
Speaker 2: which seems to be the sweet spot for hybrids because
Speaker 2: that's what the size of the Porsche battery is too.
Speaker 5: So that's interesting. But right now I'm driving the Kia Sorrento.
Speaker 4: Why is that?
Speaker 2: You would think that's lame, But I'll tell you so
Speaker 2: when when when I get a press car, A lot
Speaker 2: of times i'll get a press car that, as I've said,
Speaker 2: isn't that exciting?
Speaker 5: And I'd rather drive my Challenger.
Speaker 2: Sure, big HEMI more fun, I feel like exactly. So
Speaker 2: this week I was driving the Challenger in and it
Speaker 2: was raining a lot. I did some hydroplaning and I
Speaker 2: knocked off some of the NVH material on the bottom
Speaker 2: of the car. It was really scary, but I was
Speaker 2: okay and the vehicle was pretty much okay. And then
Speaker 2: so this morning I thought, it's raining again, let me
Speaker 2: take the Kia.
Speaker 5: And it was really good.
Speaker 4: Is your wife's car?
Speaker 5: No, the it's a press car.
Speaker 4: It's okay.
Speaker 5: The brand new Kia Sorrento.
Speaker 2: It looks very cool, just like the tail ride looks
Speaker 2: very cool. But I was never impressed with the taellur
Speaker 2: ride motor. And okay, the motor's not the sweet spot
Speaker 2: for the Kia Sorrento either, but it's just a really
Speaker 2: nicely done package. The interior is intuitive, easy to use.
Speaker 2: They have that cool tech where when you put on
Speaker 2: a turn signal you see the camera view out that
Speaker 2: side in your dash.
Speaker 4: And what's the starting price?
Speaker 5: I will google that for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm seeing them for low forties, high thirties.
Speaker 1: Does that seem fair based on what you're saying?
Speaker 5: For sure?
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially in today's market. Yeah, I think it looks
Speaker 2: pretty cool. I got it in a very good color.
Speaker 2: It's like a gray, brownish gray. That's a nice that
Speaker 2: doesn't sound good, brownish gray, but it looks really cool.
Speaker 2: Even the parking lot attendant was like, Oh, I like
Speaker 2: the color.
Speaker 4: You know, at least it's not white, it's a generic white.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So, I mean, I'm a fan of this brand and
Speaker 2: Hyundai and Genesis.
Speaker 4: It's a smart they're doing really smart stuff.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So if the price is fair for what you get,
Speaker 1: what more can you ask for?
Speaker 3: True?
Speaker 2: True, You're not gonna get down to BYD prices, you know,
Speaker 2: eleven thousand dollars for the seagull.
Speaker 5: In any case, all right, I guess that's all we
Speaker 5: have for today.
Speaker 1: I'm Matt Miller and I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is
Speaker 1: Hot Pursuit