# McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown

An episode of [Bloomberg Hot Pursuit!](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1710787142), 22 May 2026, 45 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/4778f66f-5d19-456a-9820-b08f00dfd567/5dd95c80-8b7c-46a4-aa9f-b452000e6d4c/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=42336c1a-f7c2-4898-885b-b08f00e0bb66

Hannah and Matt welcome Zak to talk about his quest to win the Indy 500, Le Mans, and the Monaco Grand Prix, and why F1 drivers want to race at Le Mans but not Indy. Plus, the Corvette ZR1X versus the Corvette eRay, and Hannah's going to Indianapolis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. I'm Hannah Elliott and
[0:10] Speaker 1: I'm Matt Miller.
[0:11] Speaker 2: This is Hot Pursuit.
[0:18] Speaker 1: Coming up on today's podcast. We've got Zach Brown, the
[0:21] Speaker 1: head of McLaren racing with us, which is a really
[0:24] Speaker 1: big deal. Matt. He joined you on TV too, which
[0:27] Speaker 1: is very cool.
[0:27] Speaker 2: Yeah, he is awesome.
[0:29] Speaker 3: He's going to talk to us ahead of the Indy
[0:31] Speaker 3: five hundred, which is of course this weekend. He is
[0:34] Speaker 3: also racing next year in the Lamar Hypercar Division and
[0:41] Speaker 3: has won Monaco already in F one. So he's going
[0:45] Speaker 3: for a Zach Brown triple crown because yeah, it's because
[0:50] Speaker 3: McLaren's already wanted as a team, but you know before
[0:53] Speaker 3: he was involved and obviously only one other driver has
[0:57] Speaker 3: ever won it in Graham Hill.
[0:59] Speaker 1: Sure that guy has a lot going on. I'm glad
[1:02] Speaker 1: he made time for us.
[1:03] Speaker 2: Me too.
[1:03] Speaker 3: I was really really grateful. So we'll get into that.
[1:06] Speaker 3: It was an excellent conversation and we're gonna reopen the
[1:10] Speaker 3: can of worms talking about corvettes because you had I
[1:14] Speaker 3: never remember if it's the z L one or z
[1:17] Speaker 3: R one or z one r X, Like there's so
[1:20] Speaker 3: many letters and numbers, but that you had the Apex
[1:23] Speaker 3: predator of Corvettes.
[1:25] Speaker 1: V R one X Corvette. That's right, I did, and
[1:29] Speaker 1: you got to bet yourself.
[1:30] Speaker 3: Yes, I had the E Ray again, which I've driven before.
[1:36] Speaker 3: I was absolutely in love with it. In the past,
[1:39] Speaker 3: my purest neighbor Eric, he didn't like it so much,
[1:43] Speaker 3: and I think that's the case for a lot of
[1:46] Speaker 3: people who are like purest sports car fans. But it's
[1:50] Speaker 3: interesting because that one is going extinct. This is the
[1:52] Speaker 3: last year of the E Ray. Yeah, because the Grand Sport.
[1:56] Speaker 3: They're coming out with the Grand Sport, which is essentially
[1:59] Speaker 3: the same thing, a wide body. It's the Z six
[2:02] Speaker 3: body with just the big motor in it, and they're
[2:06] Speaker 3: making an electric version or hybrid version of the Grand
[2:08] Speaker 3: Sport as well, the Grand Sport X. So that will
[2:11] Speaker 3: take the place of the E Ray.
[2:14] Speaker 1: Well, I think that's okay because after my drive and
[2:17] Speaker 1: the ZR one X, like, what more could you want? Really?
[2:22] Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like you could do a K
[2:24] Speaker 1: shaped curve of a Corvette. Either you get the entry,
[2:27] Speaker 1: the base model, which is a lot of car for
[2:30] Speaker 1: the money, or you go all the way up to
[2:32] Speaker 1: the top of the food chain, and like, why do
[2:34] Speaker 1: you need something in the middle that's interesting.
[2:35] Speaker 3: I think of it as an E shape, right, So
[2:38] Speaker 3: the Stingray is the bottom rung and the z R
[2:43] Speaker 3: one X is obviously the top, but I like the
[2:46] Speaker 3: middle ground. So especially the E Ray, I absolutely love it.
[2:51] Speaker 3: It's the six point two liters V eight in the back.
[2:53] Speaker 3: It's got the two hundred horsepower electric motor on the
[2:56] Speaker 3: front axle, and so you still get the vibe, the sounds,
[3:00] Speaker 3: the smells of you know, a big inch V eight
[3:05] Speaker 3: naturally astirraated V eight behind you, and it's behind you,
[3:11] Speaker 3: which is different for a corvette, you know, in my lifetime,
[3:14] Speaker 3: they've all been front engine until now. But then you
[3:17] Speaker 3: get the pole and the instant torque of the electric
[3:20] Speaker 3: motor in front. So zero sixty and two and a
[3:23] Speaker 3: half seconds, right, And also for these north wet North
[3:27] Speaker 3: Eastern you know roads, you get the safety of having
[3:32] Speaker 3: all wheel drive for the first time in a corvette.
[3:35] Speaker 3: I don't have to have the thousand plus horsepower of
[3:38] Speaker 3: the z R one and I get a little bit
[3:41] Speaker 3: more push and pull from uh from the E Ray
[3:45] Speaker 3: than I would in the in the typical sting Ray.
[3:47] Speaker 3: So I like the middle ground a lot, and I
[3:49] Speaker 3: especially think it's gonna be a great deal when they
[3:51] Speaker 3: put out the Grand Sport X. That's gonna have a
[3:54] Speaker 3: bigger motor, right, it's gonna have a six point They're
[3:56] Speaker 3: going to a six point seven liter V eight, and
[3:59] Speaker 3: so every one with the money is going to trade up.
[4:02] Speaker 3: And I'm rubbing my hands together. I cannot wait for
[4:06] Speaker 3: the used car market to just drop prices on the Era,
[4:09] Speaker 3: because not only does it come with the wider body,
[4:11] Speaker 3: the zero six body, but the Era comes with carbon
[4:14] Speaker 3: ceramic breaks as standard, as well as the magnaride as standard.
[4:19] Speaker 3: So I think it has everything you need and nothing
[4:22] Speaker 3: you don't.
[4:23] Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good case. I mean, I'll just give
[4:29] Speaker 1: the outline of the zer one X and see if
[4:32] Speaker 1: that doesn't entice you a little bit. Did we mention
[4:35] Speaker 1: it's twelve hundred and fifty combined horsepower and it's zero
[4:38] Speaker 1: to sixty in under two seconds, which is kind of
[4:42] Speaker 1: hard to fathom. And I admit I didn't get anywhere
[4:46] Speaker 1: near to touching that because I'm not a fool.
[4:49] Speaker 3: It's you didn't put on launch control and try it
[4:52] Speaker 3: out for yourself, you know what?
[4:54] Speaker 1: No, I didn't because the last car that I drove
[4:57] Speaker 1: that had this amount of horsepower, as you may remember,
[4:59] Speaker 1: was the Baborghini Rubulto, and I did get a very
[5:03] Speaker 1: painful speeding ticket in that car. So I was really
[5:05] Speaker 1: put on notice in this thing. The thing that I
[5:08] Speaker 1: actually really liked about it is that, yes, it has
[5:12] Speaker 1: all of that power which you can use, and I
[5:15] Speaker 1: you know, I had it up on Mulholland and you
[5:18] Speaker 1: can't even access it on a twisty cool famous driving road.
[5:22] Speaker 1: You really just I wanted to take it on a
[5:24] Speaker 1: straight shot to Vegas. That's really how that car is
[5:27] Speaker 1: best used. But I will say I did drive it
[5:31] Speaker 1: around town to like, you know, my facialist and coffee
[5:35] Speaker 1: and all these other things, and it is nice to
[5:38] Speaker 1: drive around down around town. As we know, a lot
[5:41] Speaker 1: of these cars are frustrating. It's a little bit scary
[5:45] Speaker 1: because the visibility is nil behind your shoulder, you just
[5:49] Speaker 1: can't see a thing. And with the extra arrow, which
[5:52] Speaker 1: I don't think you need in this thing, I was
[5:56] Speaker 1: very sensitive to not wanting to scrape or you know,
[6:01] Speaker 1: shatter the wheels the arrow anything which is it was
[6:06] Speaker 1: that was a little in la. It gave me pause.
[6:10] Speaker 1: By the way, that's driving the car was great.
[6:13] Speaker 3: That's so I want to hear more about driving the car.
[6:15] Speaker 3: But I'll just interrupt to say the arrow is where
[6:19] Speaker 3: they lose me on that thing. Like I the eight,
[6:22] Speaker 3: the Plane C eight, and the E Ray is the
[6:25] Speaker 3: plainest of them all because they do they do the
[6:28] Speaker 3: E Ray in all one color. It already looks racer
[6:31] Speaker 3: boy enough, Like I don't need a gigantic tail because
[6:35] Speaker 3: guess what, I'm not going to be doing one hundred
[6:37] Speaker 3: and seventy miles per hour in a twisties. I don't
[6:40] Speaker 3: know why they go all out with that.
[6:42] Speaker 1: I completely agree. Like I'm looking at the z R
[6:47] Speaker 1: one X on the website right now, and it doesn't
[6:49] Speaker 1: have the arrow, and it doesn't have the spoiler, and
[6:52] Speaker 1: it already looks wild and ultra cool, and it stands
[6:56] Speaker 1: out it's very distinct from the Sting Ray. The Stingray
[6:59] Speaker 1: looks really cool, but it's a lot more mundane than this,
[7:03] Speaker 1: so you already feel special. I don't think you need it.
[7:07] Speaker 1: I'd be curious to ask Corvette how many of their
[7:10] Speaker 1: Z one x owners are taking the car to the track,
[7:14] Speaker 1: because I think the only argument you could make for needing.
[7:17] Speaker 1: That spoiler is on a track. That's the only way
[7:21] Speaker 1: you would ever get it.
[7:23] Speaker 3: So how on a track or just in Miami driving
[7:26] Speaker 3: around the downtown area.
[7:27] Speaker 1: I mean someone made a joke. Well, that's what you
[7:29] Speaker 1: put your launch on. When you stand around your car,
[7:31] Speaker 1: you put you lay your sandwich on the spoiler. So
[7:34] Speaker 1: I do get that, but you know, I'm so with you.
[7:38] Speaker 1: It's it's like ten grand extra to have it. I don't,
[7:40] Speaker 1: I rarely don't think it's necessary. And I also know
[7:44] Speaker 1: we're going to disagree about the color of the car,
[7:46] Speaker 1: which I think, as you said, the car already screams
[7:49] Speaker 1: for attention, so I'm more inclined to choose a more
[7:52] Speaker 1: subdued color. I get that my orange, and I was
[7:57] Speaker 1: slightly embarrassed to be driving around this orange thing.
[8:01] Speaker 3: I mean, I love so I love orange on a supercar,
[8:05] Speaker 3: like on a Lamborghini or a Corvette z R one x,
[8:09] Speaker 3: which I contend is a supercar if not a hypercr
[8:14] Speaker 3: Oh come now, come, now, come on. You just said
[8:18] Speaker 3: twelve hundred and fifty horsepower, right. I don't know how
[8:21] Speaker 3: much torque it has, but I imagine it's very substantial
[8:24] Speaker 3: and just because you can get in for I mean
[8:28] Speaker 3: it's not even cheap, right, it's over two hundred grand
[8:30] Speaker 3: the MSRP.
[8:32] Speaker 1: Yeah, it starts at two hundred and nine and the
[8:34] Speaker 1: one I drove was up around two hundred and forty.
[8:37] Speaker 3: Right, And you're not getting it off a dealer lot
[8:39] Speaker 3: for less than three hundred three fifty because they're charging
[8:43] Speaker 3: like one hundred grand or even one fifty in an
[8:46] Speaker 3: additional dealer markup.
[8:48] Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, I maintain my stance really as it was
[8:56] Speaker 1: conceived and born into the world. The Corvet is America's
[9:02] Speaker 1: sports car, or that is America's sports car. That is
[9:07] Speaker 1: what it is. It's the same.
[9:10] Speaker 3: This thing is so far from the original Corvette, like
[9:14] Speaker 3: it's so far from the C three's that you have.
[9:17] Speaker 3: It's just a different vehicle with the same name.
[9:22] Speaker 1: I'm a bit of a purist to me. Once you
[9:26] Speaker 1: put you birth a car into the world, that is
[9:30] Speaker 1: what it is. You can dial up the engine as
[9:33] Speaker 1: much as you want, but that is it is what
[9:35] Speaker 1: it is. Look at the nine to eleven now, I
[9:38] Speaker 1: would not say that the nine to eleven is a
[9:41] Speaker 1: halo car for Portie. Even if you get into the
[9:44] Speaker 1: GT three RS that's not Porsia's halo car. A halo
[9:48] Speaker 1: car for Porsche and a supercar for Portia would be
[9:51] Speaker 1: something that follows the nine eighteen Spider, a completely different model.
[9:56] Speaker 2: I hear the nine moment will.
[9:58] Speaker 1: Always be the nine to eleven. You can have a
[10:00] Speaker 1: lot of variations on it, and yeah, we get more
[10:02] Speaker 1: power and it's faster, but it is always the nine
[10:05] Speaker 1: to eleven. I see the Corvette in the same way. Yeah,
[10:07] Speaker 1: you can dial up the engine if you want, you
[10:09] Speaker 1: can add a spoiler, that's great, but at the end
[10:11] Speaker 1: of the day, it is still a Corvette, which is
[10:15] Speaker 1: by its very nature and DNA a sports car.
[10:18] Speaker 3: I hear what you're saying. But they didn't just dial
[10:20] Speaker 3: up the motor. They moved it to the back of
[10:22] Speaker 3: the car, all right, So anyway, we won't ever resolve this.
[10:25] Speaker 3: But I wonder what you thought about driving it. So obviously,
[10:30] Speaker 3: you know it's incredibly fast and quick, but I also think,
[10:35] Speaker 3: and I haven't been in a ZR one obviously, I've
[10:38] Speaker 3: only been in a Stinger in an Eray. I also
[10:40] Speaker 3: think it's very comfortable, it's accessible, and it's easy to drive.
[10:46] Speaker 3: At least the lower models are easy to drive around town.
[10:50] Speaker 3: What did you think?
[10:52] Speaker 1: Completely agree. The thing that was the overwhelming impression from
[10:57] Speaker 1: this car is how incredibly smooth it is. And I
[11:01] Speaker 1: think we cars that are meat for the track and
[11:06] Speaker 1: cars with a lot of power can often be very
[11:08] Speaker 1: brutal and be extremely fraying on your nerves. The sound,
[11:14] Speaker 1: the stiffness of the suspension, they're just like not really
[11:17] Speaker 1: fun to be in. The z R one X was
[11:22] Speaker 1: completely opposite of that. Everything was so smooth and imperceptible.
[11:28] Speaker 1: You know, when you get in the car, it jumps
[11:31] Speaker 1: to a very quick speed and I'm not gonna say
[11:34] Speaker 1: what speed, because I'm not going to incriminate myself, but
[11:36] Speaker 1: it jumps so fast and it's it's imperceptible what the
[11:41] Speaker 1: car is doing. All you know is I'm now going
[11:44] Speaker 1: extremely fast and that is awesome. But at the same time,
[11:48] Speaker 1: it's extremely composed. It doesn't feel like it's fighting you.
[11:53] Speaker 1: It doesn't feel like it's out of control or raw
[11:58] Speaker 1: in any way and has a place. But this car
[12:01] Speaker 1: is not raw. This car is composed. I really loved it.
[12:06] Speaker 1: I didn't love changing lanes in this car because again,
[12:10] Speaker 1: the visibility is challenging, even with the rear view mirror
[12:14] Speaker 1: that is a video camera instead of a mirror. Visibility
[12:18] Speaker 1: is challenging, and I know they're really proud of their
[12:20] Speaker 1: split back window because that's similar to some of the
[12:24] Speaker 1: older Corvettes the split windows, of course, but the visibility
[12:27] Speaker 1: is really challenging and changing lanes on some of California's freeways,
[12:33] Speaker 1: it feels like taking your life on your hands a
[12:35] Speaker 1: little bit. That's why I want to drive it to Vegas,
[12:39] Speaker 1: like this is the perfect car to just drive across America.
[12:43] Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, I totally totally agree. All right, look forward
[12:48] Speaker 3: to your column on the Corvette ZR one X. When
[12:53] Speaker 3: we come back, we're going to give you our interview
[12:55] Speaker 3: with McLaren Racing CEO, Zach Brown.
[13:00] Speaker 1: Welcome back to Hopursue. Joining us now is the charnydo.
[13:04] Speaker 1: Zach Brown, one of our favorite people to have on
[13:07] Speaker 1: this podcast and just in general to talk about racing with.
[13:11] Speaker 1: This is such a car guy. All right, let's kick
[13:14] Speaker 1: it off here. I have no idea what you guys
[13:16] Speaker 1: spoke about before, but of course I have a lot
[13:19] Speaker 1: of questions. Okay, great, so to kick it off, and
[13:22] Speaker 1: I'm sure.
[13:23] Speaker 3: Everyone by the way, by the way, I'll i'll just sorry.
[13:27] Speaker 3: I'll just remind you that this will come out on Friday,
[13:29] Speaker 3: as you know, and so and then the Indy five
[13:32] Speaker 3: hundred is this weekend.
[13:33] Speaker 2: So that's where I am.
[13:34] Speaker 1: Going to the Okay five hundred, I will be on
[13:37] Speaker 1: the ground. I will be there. I can't wait. Okay, Well,
[13:43] Speaker 1: here's the question, and it is an F one related question,
[13:45] Speaker 1: And maybe we should talk about Indie two because I've
[13:47] Speaker 1: never been before. Everybody's talking about the new rules and regulations.
[13:52] Speaker 1: The people who are doing well say they love them.
[13:55] Speaker 1: The people who are toward the back of the pack
[13:57] Speaker 1: say they're a travesty and they're terrible and it's not
[14:00] Speaker 1: real racing. How do you feel having a bigger, more
[14:05] Speaker 1: long term and more top end perspective on where we
[14:10] Speaker 1: are with the rules and regulations in formula one? Can
[14:13] Speaker 1: you give us a little bit of context as the
[14:16] Speaker 1: adult in the room about how disruptive they really are
[14:21] Speaker 1: and is this real racing or not? Yeah?
[14:24] Speaker 2: One hundred percent. So I think the truth is somewhere
[14:27] Speaker 2: in the middle. Let's break it down. So the racing itself,
[14:30] Speaker 2: when you watch it on television or I'm watching on pitwall,
[14:34] Speaker 2: it's pretty awesome, right. Three four lead changes at the front,
[14:38] Speaker 2: five different leaders in Miami. So from a television product,
[14:43] Speaker 2: if we weren't talking about it, you wouldn't know other
[14:48] Speaker 2: than well, there's a lot of lead changes going on.
[14:50] Speaker 2: The starts are dramatic. You know, people aren't getting off
[14:53] Speaker 2: the line, well some people are, so I think the racing,
[14:56] Speaker 2: the spectacle is very good. The drivers, of course, want
[15:00] Speaker 2: to drive flat out all the time. That's what Formula
[15:03] Speaker 2: one's about. These are still the fastest race cars in
[15:05] Speaker 2: the world, but the drivers are having to adapt now
[15:10] Speaker 2: we've all whether it's into our krding or Formula one,
[15:14] Speaker 2: racing is about trying to beat the car in front
[15:16] Speaker 2: of you with whatever tools you have. So it's still
[15:20] Speaker 2: very much racing. That being said, the race car does
[15:25] Speaker 2: things that we've never seen race cars do before because
[15:28] Speaker 2: we've got new technology. That being said, we're three four
[15:31] Speaker 2: five races into it. You're always going to need to
[15:34] Speaker 2: develop new technologies. I get that everything in Formula one
[15:38] Speaker 2: is magnified times a thousand. So if we're not happy
[15:42] Speaker 2: in Race one, oh my god, it's a tragedy. And
[15:46] Speaker 2: in reality is we've already made the first round of adjustments.
[15:50] Speaker 2: Miami was better. We have more adjustments coming. So what
[15:53] Speaker 2: I would be saying to people is the racing is great.
[15:56] Speaker 2: We will smooth out this technology. Be patient. It's the
[16:00] Speaker 2: same thing that happened when we had the hybrid era
[16:03] Speaker 2: start over a decade ago. Everyone's saying it's going to
[16:05] Speaker 2: be a disaster, and we ended up with the closest
[16:07] Speaker 2: racing ever. So too somewhere in the middle. Yes, do
[16:10] Speaker 2: we have work to do? Of course we do. Are
[16:12] Speaker 2: the cars perfect for what Formula One drivers want? No?
[16:16] Speaker 2: Will we get there and get there in short order?
[16:18] Speaker 2: I believe we will.
[16:20] Speaker 1: Okay, I have a followup real quick, Matt, and I'm
[16:23] Speaker 1: sure you have your own questions. Is this new era
[16:26] Speaker 1: of F one creating a different type of driver? And
[16:31] Speaker 1: I ask, as we're moving forward, you're great at developing
[16:35] Speaker 1: very young drivers, new drivers, bringing drivers into the sport.
[16:38] Speaker 1: I'm also thinking of F one Academy. Is this new
[16:41] Speaker 1: era going to be creating a new style, new type,
[16:45] Speaker 1: new modern driver.
[16:47] Speaker 2: I think it is, But I think that was going
[16:49] Speaker 2: to happen no matter what the rules were. When I
[16:52] Speaker 2: look back to when I was racing, you had a
[16:54] Speaker 2: drinks bottle button and you had a radio button. And
[16:58] Speaker 2: you had a physical of what was called an anti
[17:00] Speaker 2: roll bar. Now these steering wheels have so many gidgets
[17:04] Speaker 2: and gadgets on them, So I think what today's Formula
[17:07] Speaker 2: One is, regardless of today's specific rules, is going to
[17:11] Speaker 2: be more in tune with what the younger generation has
[17:14] Speaker 2: grown up with, which is lots of technology at their disposal,
[17:18] Speaker 2: so kind of no different than you know, if you
[17:20] Speaker 2: were to hand my mom an Android phone today versus
[17:26] Speaker 2: what she was used to, it would be a bit overwhelming.
[17:28] Speaker 2: So I do think racing is going to develop in
[17:32] Speaker 2: a way where the younger generation who's grown up around
[17:35] Speaker 2: this technology. For me, if I were to sit in
[17:38] Speaker 2: the current Formula one car, which I have, it's information
[17:42] Speaker 2: overload with what's going on on the steering wheel. But
[17:45] Speaker 2: that's kind of what the new generation driver is going
[17:48] Speaker 2: to be grown up with.
[17:50] Speaker 3: I had to say further record, I think the racing
[17:53] Speaker 3: got better even before Miami. So like the first race,
[17:57] Speaker 3: what I noticed immediately was I think it was Russell
[18:01] Speaker 3: and Leclair. They just kept passing, passing back and forth
[18:04] Speaker 3: the whole time, and so it didn't look like real.
[18:08] Speaker 3: And then in China and Japan, I thought it got
[18:10] Speaker 3: much better and in Miami as well, was just an
[18:14] Speaker 3: awesome race to watch and I no longer was thinking
[18:16] Speaker 3: about as much about battery deployment. I think they're actually
[18:19] Speaker 3: showing it also less on this cream.
[18:21] Speaker 2: They are, and there's a technique to it. So the
[18:23] Speaker 2: reality is you got to kind of size up the
[18:25] Speaker 2: competition and decide when do you want to deploy your battery.
[18:29] Speaker 2: And you know, it was unusual being on pitwall when
[18:31] Speaker 2: we were in qualifying. Normally, the communication that the driver's
[18:36] Speaker 2: been you know, go five meters deep or get on
[18:38] Speaker 2: the power a little earlier, and it was a bit
[18:39] Speaker 2: more weight, be patient, wait to deploy, don't deploy too early.
[18:44] Speaker 2: So it was definitely a different technique, but you still
[18:46] Speaker 2: needed to be smarter and better at it than the
[18:49] Speaker 2: next guy.
[18:50] Speaker 3: Is there though, So we're getting ready for Indy and
[18:52] Speaker 3: I can't wait to spend the entire weekend watching. Is
[18:57] Speaker 3: there any form of racing that you like better than another?
[19:00] Speaker 3: Because Indy seems to be so much more old school.
[19:02] Speaker 3: It's about the driver and with F one, like I
[19:06] Speaker 3: can imagine the future of F one where the driver's
[19:08] Speaker 3: not even in the car anymore.
[19:10] Speaker 2: So high tech, Yeah, I think, you know, that'll never
[19:12] Speaker 2: happen because people want to see the gladiatorial racing drivers
[19:16] Speaker 2: going at it. We could have been a lot more
[19:21] Speaker 2: digital with our race cars even yet today, you know,
[19:23] Speaker 2: and stuff's been banned over the years. You know, we
[19:25] Speaker 2: had connected cars twenty thirty years ago, and we banned
[19:29] Speaker 2: the kind of the two way communication where we could
[19:31] Speaker 2: actually adjust the car from Pittwall. So the technology is there,
[19:35] Speaker 2: but we want to stay true to you know, racing
[19:38] Speaker 2: is about racing drivers. It's funny, I've asked myself the question,
[19:42] Speaker 2: do I prefer Monaco, Do I prefer the Indy five hundred,
[19:45] Speaker 2: or do I prefer the twenty four hours of Lama?
[19:46] Speaker 2: Answers all the above. Each one's different. So there's something
[19:50] Speaker 2: I love about the twenty four hours of Lama that
[19:53] Speaker 2: Indian Monaco don't deliver. Then there's something about the Indy
[19:56] Speaker 2: five hundred that Lama and Monico don't deliver. And then
[19:59] Speaker 2: it's kind of like, how can you not put Monaco
[20:01] Speaker 2: top of the list. That's the Monaco Grand Prix. That's
[20:04] Speaker 2: what I grew up listening to Jackie Stewart on ABC
[20:07] Speaker 2: Wide World of Sports. So I think they're all unbelievable
[20:12] Speaker 2: and it's kind of hard to have a favorite because
[20:14] Speaker 2: they're they're different.
[20:15] Speaker 3: You know why he brings up those three races Hannah
[20:17] Speaker 3: in particular.
[20:19] Speaker 1: Well, they're the triple Crown of motorsport and McLaren has won.
[20:21] Speaker 3: All three, yes, this is correct, is the only team
[20:25] Speaker 3: to have won all three. So Graham Hill is the
[20:28] Speaker 3: only single driver to have won all three, which is
[20:31] Speaker 3: pretty amazing if you think about it, because it's been
[20:33] Speaker 3: a while.
[20:33] Speaker 2: That's why I'm bugging Fernando. He can still, he can
[20:36] Speaker 2: do it. He can do it.
[20:38] Speaker 1: Let's actually talk about the elephant in the room here.
[20:41] Speaker 1: What is the possibility that Max Verstappan would get into
[20:44] Speaker 1: a McLaren l M P car potentially at perhaps Lama.
[20:50] Speaker 1: I know McLaren will be launching a Lamon at a pack.
[20:54] Speaker 2: Yeah, I think all the Formula One drivers would love
[20:57] Speaker 2: to do Lamar. It's the indie up here. Well, no,
[21:01] Speaker 2: but you know Lando wants to, Oscar would like to.
[21:04] Speaker 2: I think Max of course. You know, he just did
[21:06] Speaker 2: a great job at the twenty four hours in urber
[21:07] Speaker 2: Gring this past weekend, was leading with three hours to go,
[21:11] Speaker 2: so I think everyone's comfortable with Lamar. That's kind of
[21:14] Speaker 2: what they know that the Indy five hundred, uh scares
[21:18] Speaker 2: the majority of the grid in Formula one, So it's
[21:23] Speaker 2: it's it's on the more dangerous side when you look
[21:26] Speaker 2: at you know, the type of racing. It's oval racing,
[21:29] Speaker 2: so it's something that they're not accustomed to. And let's
[21:31] Speaker 2: face it, any accident at Indianapolis is a big accident.
[21:35] Speaker 2: But Fernando did it, he let it, almost won it lay. Yeah,
[21:41] Speaker 2: he did an amazing job. So he's the one that
[21:44] Speaker 2: I'm twisting his arm going come on, be the next
[21:46] Speaker 2: gram Hill.
[21:47] Speaker 3: He only did he only dropped out because of mechanical failure, right.
[21:49] Speaker 2: Yeah, we had an engine. We had an engine failure.
[21:52] Speaker 3: But he has won Monico obviously, and he has won Lamon.
[21:55] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[21:55] Speaker 3: So he's the only driver, I mean that's got two
[21:59] Speaker 3: thirds of the way through two.
[22:01] Speaker 2: And and and is comfortable doing the Indy five hundred.
[22:04] Speaker 2: You know, you talk to the other drivers and they
[22:06] Speaker 2: kind of don't want to have anything to do with it.
[22:08] Speaker 3: Why doesn't he want to? Why toy around with Aston
[22:12] Speaker 3: Martin in f one? Like, why not go?
[22:15] Speaker 2: I'm not giving up on him. I'm good friends with Fernanda.
[22:17] Speaker 2: I'm a massive Fernando fan. He's he's old school. He
[22:19] Speaker 2: just wants the race. He's like Mario Andretti and the
[22:22] Speaker 2: Dan Gurney's and the Graham Hills and uh, I'm not
[22:25] Speaker 2: giving up on that dream.
[22:26] Speaker 3: We have been talking with Zach Brown, the CEO of
[22:29] Speaker 3: McLaren Racing more after this break. We are back now
[22:43] Speaker 3: with McLaren Racing CEO Zach Brown.
[22:46] Speaker 1: Matt, do you remember when we were at Lamon last
[22:48] Speaker 1: year and Jensen Button said win at Lamont actually meant
[22:51] Speaker 1: more to him. Yes, that really put it into perspective
[22:56] Speaker 1: for me that.
[22:58] Speaker 2: It's such a big event and it's so hard to win.
[23:02] Speaker 3: But he too was hesitant to talk about maybe Indy Racing.
[23:06] Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think anyone want to know anything about
[23:08] Speaker 2: the Indy five hundred.
[23:09] Speaker 1: I'm going to for the first time ever this weekend.
[23:12] Speaker 1: I'm very excited. Do you have advice for how to
[23:15] Speaker 1: do Indy If you've never been.
[23:17] Speaker 2: Wait till you see what is the world's largest live
[23:20] Speaker 2: attended sporting event. You've never seen a city inside a
[23:25] Speaker 2: stadium like you will experience and thirty three cars coming
[23:28] Speaker 2: into turn one at two hundred and forty miles an hour.
[23:31] Speaker 2: The sound, the spectacle, the speed, the size is amazing.
[23:35] Speaker 3: I'm getting goosebumps as you say, dude, is it bigger
[23:37] Speaker 3: attendance than like Silverstone?
[23:39] Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeh yeah. Is a single day sporting event.
[23:41] Speaker 2: I think it sits three hundred and fifty thousand people. Wow.
[23:44] Speaker 3: So, I mean Zach's advice is to watch from pit
[23:47] Speaker 3: from Pitt Wall right, have your own team.
[23:49] Speaker 2: Always best seeing in the house. No, but it's gonna
[23:53] Speaker 2: be on Fox.
[23:53] Speaker 3: We were talking about this because I as you know, Hannah,
[23:56] Speaker 3: I love that F one is now on Apple TV,
[23:58] Speaker 3: And I mean I think for Americans that it just
[24:01] Speaker 3: opens it up to to live, sleep, eat, and breathe
[24:05] Speaker 3: one and Indy obviously it's on Fox, so we can
[24:09] Speaker 3: watch the whole thing there. How do you plan as
[24:13] Speaker 3: as a spectator, How would you plan your day?
[24:15] Speaker 1: Like?
[24:16] Speaker 2: I always like to go in the grandstand, which is
[24:18] Speaker 2: something I don't do often, but it's actually the best spectator.
[24:21] Speaker 2: Everyone wants to get in the pitch. Can't see as
[24:23] Speaker 2: much in the pits. I mean, I know you're close
[24:25] Speaker 2: up to the action, but actually sitting in the grand
[24:27] Speaker 2: stands is your best review for watching the race.
[24:29] Speaker 3: How do you rate your chances this week. I think
[24:31] Speaker 3: we've got a good chance.
[24:32] Speaker 2: We've finished second twice in the last few years. We've
[24:35] Speaker 2: crashed going for the lead. We had two cars that
[24:37] Speaker 2: crashed going for the lead. But you know, it's a
[24:41] Speaker 2: bit of a roll of the dice. It's a long race.
[24:43] Speaker 2: You need everything to go your way, so it's a
[24:45] Speaker 2: bit more like Lamar. You know, Monica, you're getting to
[24:47] Speaker 2: lead and turn one, you're you're kind of you know,
[24:50] Speaker 2: I don't want to say job done, but you've done
[24:52] Speaker 2: the heavy lifting. Indye, just anything can happen, you know something.
[24:55] Speaker 2: We had a Pato crash yesterday. Someone crashed in front
[24:59] Speaker 2: of them. You know, you get the safety car or
[25:01] Speaker 2: the pace car at the wrong time. So there's a
[25:03] Speaker 2: lot of variables that need to fall your way.
[25:08] Speaker 1: This is a bit of a pivot. But Zach, I'm
[25:09] Speaker 1: reminded that last year you were racing yourself in the
[25:12] Speaker 1: Iraq races during Pebble Beach in Monterey. Do you have plans.
[25:17] Speaker 2: I'm in the Monterey Historics every single year. It's the
[25:20] Speaker 2: only time that I know I've got a free two weekends.
[25:25] Speaker 2: There's the prehistorics and historics because it's the Formula one
[25:28] Speaker 2: shut down. So I've been going to that event for
[25:30] Speaker 2: twenty plus years and I intend to go to it
[25:33] Speaker 2: the next twenty years. This year, I'll be bringing my
[25:35] Speaker 2: Iraq again, a Portion nine thirty five, a Jaguar XGR
[25:40] Speaker 2: nine Group C car, and my McLaren MD can Am car.
[25:44] Speaker 3: What are your favorites? I mean, let's say, of the
[25:46] Speaker 3: twentieth century, right, what's your favorite era in terms of
[25:52] Speaker 3: you know, driving?
[25:53] Speaker 2: And I love sports cars mostly because I fit in
[25:57] Speaker 2: them pretty well. The group see the GTB cars. I
[26:01] Speaker 2: think those cars, even if you look at them today,
[26:03] Speaker 2: they look very modern. My favorite era of indie car
[26:06] Speaker 2: was a late eighties early nineties. That's what I grew
[26:08] Speaker 2: up around, and the same thing in Formula one. But
[26:11] Speaker 2: I think our favorite eras tend to be what you
[26:13] Speaker 2: kind of grew up around. You know, if you ask
[26:15] Speaker 2: my kids in twenty years, I'm sure this is going
[26:18] Speaker 2: to be their their favorite era.
[26:20] Speaker 3: But the late eighties, early nineties and F one has.
[26:22] Speaker 2: To be take the cake, right, And the cars all
[26:25] Speaker 2: look different. You had different types of power units, and
[26:29] Speaker 2: you know, you went and looked and all the cars
[26:31] Speaker 2: were designed differently. Now that you've got so much you know,
[26:35] Speaker 2: computers aiding you, and the regulations are so tight, you
[26:39] Speaker 2: kind of spit out very similar looking cars that have
[26:43] Speaker 2: very subtle differences. Where you go back and you look
[26:45] Speaker 2: at the eighties and a McLaren or Ferrari or Williams something,
[26:49] Speaker 2: they just looked like a radically different cars. You even
[26:51] Speaker 2: had six wheels at one point. So I enjoy that
[26:54] Speaker 2: see the car and go that is a Williams and
[26:57] Speaker 2: that is a McLaren. But now in the digital age
[27:00] Speaker 2: and with the prescription of the rules, they'll look pretty similar.
[27:04] Speaker 2: But of course the different race cars.
[27:07] Speaker 1: That makes sense. I'm thinking of the physical strength required
[27:10] Speaker 1: to drive those cars when you're racing in like in
[27:13] Speaker 1: Monterey for instance, that's a laguna seka. What is the
[27:17] Speaker 1: key to that track? Specifically?
[27:20] Speaker 2: I love that track. I've got more laps around that
[27:22] Speaker 2: track than any I think the physicality of the old
[27:25] Speaker 2: cars and the fragility of the cars, the gearboxes, the brakes.
[27:30] Speaker 2: You know, now you hop in a car and you
[27:33] Speaker 2: know all the cars finish the races. You can't really
[27:36] Speaker 2: break the gearboxes, you can't miss shifts. You can't overrev
[27:39] Speaker 2: the engines. So that was what you know, is the
[27:44] Speaker 2: biggest thing you notice when you get in a older car.
[27:47] Speaker 2: And then of course safety, even though we're in twenty
[27:50] Speaker 2: twenty six, you do need to reset your brain that
[27:53] Speaker 2: you know you're in a car that was quite dangerous
[27:57] Speaker 2: back in the day. So even though you're in twenty
[27:58] Speaker 2: twenty six, you need to re wind and go, Nope,
[28:01] Speaker 2: I'm in a nineteen eighty six car and the protection
[28:04] Speaker 2: is not what it was today.
[28:07] Speaker 1: Can you blog that car? All out those eighties race cars?
[28:11] Speaker 1: Can you push them? Or are you a little bit? No?
[28:14] Speaker 2: You back off a little bit because I'm actually less
[28:18] Speaker 2: concerned about my safety. I'm more concerned about replacing the
[28:20] Speaker 2: race car. Yeah yeah, but I actually so.
[28:24] Speaker 3: As for me as someone who looks to buy a
[28:27] Speaker 3: classic car, like, that's the trade off I always think about.
[28:29] Speaker 3: On the one hand, I want a car that doesn't
[28:31] Speaker 3: have electronics in it because I want to be able
[28:33] Speaker 3: to work on it and fix it myself and I can't,
[28:36] Speaker 3: you know, do all the software stuff. On the other hand,
[28:39] Speaker 3: I want it to be able to survive, like getting
[28:41] Speaker 3: hit sideways in an intersection, Like I don't want to
[28:45] Speaker 3: get t boned and die, So there is kind of
[28:48] Speaker 3: that sweet spot. I mean, that's part of why I
[28:50] Speaker 3: think people like the nineties Radwood era cars right now
[28:54] Speaker 3: because you can get like kind of the maximum naturally
[28:57] Speaker 3: aspirated power and and a good amount of safety. For well,
[29:04] Speaker 3: it's election, it's.
[29:04] Speaker 2: Weird, and it just means I'm getting really old now.
[29:07] Speaker 2: Historic cars are hitting the era of the reliability and
[29:11] Speaker 2: the safety. So you know, I'm in two weeks time
[29:14] Speaker 2: going to be racing a McLaren GT three and a Ferrari.
[29:18] Speaker 2: I'm not sure I'm allowed to say that GTE car
[29:20] Speaker 2: that ran at Lamar in twenty twelve and the McLaren
[29:24] Speaker 2: raced in twenty thirteen. I'm shocked that's a historic car
[29:27] Speaker 2: because it feels new to me. But you know those
[29:29] Speaker 2: are all carbon fiber, electronics, paddleshift gearboxes. So I think
[29:36] Speaker 2: modern day historic racing now are going to hit an
[29:39] Speaker 2: era where you can really push these cars.
[29:42] Speaker 3: So twenty twelve is an historic car.
[29:44] Speaker 2: It's crazy. It doesn't feel historic to me because I
[29:46] Speaker 2: was racing them not too long ago. But reality as
[29:48] Speaker 2: they are now, where is that race that's gonna be
[29:50] Speaker 2: a brands Hatch which will be a lot of fun,
[29:51] Speaker 2: which I'm going to be doing with my my son,
[29:53] Speaker 2: first time I've ever raced with them. That's very cool.
[29:56] Speaker 2: It'll be a lot of fun.
[29:57] Speaker 3: You know, it's a famous racetrack when it has a
[29:59] Speaker 3: color name after it. I saw yesterday a BMWM eight
[30:03] Speaker 3: and brands Hatch gray.
[30:04] Speaker 2: Yeah, it's an iconic, iconic circuit used to host the
[30:08] Speaker 2: British Grand Prix in amongst other major races.
[30:11] Speaker 3: You are allowed to talk about other brands that you
[30:14] Speaker 3: drive or like. Besides, we obviously know you're dedicated to
[30:17] Speaker 3: McLaren and a car guy. Yeah so, but in terms
[30:22] Speaker 3: of the McLaren cars, there are a lot of pretty
[30:24] Speaker 3: good deals out there if you're willing to go for
[30:27] Speaker 3: a ten year old vehicle. What do you think of
[30:30] Speaker 3: the product that they have? I mean, obviously they're at
[30:33] Speaker 3: the cutting edge, the bleeding edge of technology right now,
[30:35] Speaker 3: and everybody raves about their new products. What do you
[30:37] Speaker 3: think about the older McLaren's.
[30:38] Speaker 2: What do you like? I love the p Ones an
[30:40] Speaker 2: amazing car. I think tremendously undervalued when you look at it.
[30:44] Speaker 2: It's Peers, the Enzo's, the nine to eighteens that came
[30:48] Speaker 2: out about the same time. That was our first real supercar,
[30:51] Speaker 2: of course, other than the McLaren F one from the
[30:53] Speaker 2: mid nineties. That car is amazing. I've seen our new
[30:57] Speaker 2: product lineup that's not been rolled out yet, but I'm
[30:59] Speaker 2: very excited for the for the future. But P one,
[31:02] Speaker 2: to me is a mega supercar.
[31:05] Speaker 3: And where do you where do you spend the most
[31:06] Speaker 3: of I mean, obviously you're at race after race and
[31:09] Speaker 3: event all the time, but where do you spend the
[31:11] Speaker 3: most of your down time, Like where you keep your cars.
[31:15] Speaker 2: I've got a car storage unit because I've got more
[31:19] Speaker 2: cars than a garage space, so rotate them through. I
[31:21] Speaker 2: don't get to drive them much. I usually just drive
[31:23] Speaker 2: them to the factory because unless you get out in
[31:26] Speaker 2: the country roads, you don't want to be cruising around
[31:29] Speaker 2: London and many things because you won't get out of
[31:31] Speaker 2: second gear.
[31:32] Speaker 3: But you do get to drive the newest, the latest
[31:34] Speaker 3: and greatest. Oh there and even before they come out.
[31:36] Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred percent, and they're they're fantastic. Waits to
[31:39] Speaker 2: see it's coming there. We're doing some pretty cool stuff.
[31:41] Speaker 3: Hannah will be there, I'm sure at the launch.
[31:44] Speaker 1: I fully plan and Nintendo and that like again, maybe
[31:49] Speaker 1: this is a year you come to Monterey because gotta
[31:53] Speaker 1: go to mon totally. And I'm also thinking speaking about
[31:56] Speaker 1: these race cars. Last year at Monterey, you guys did
[31:59] Speaker 1: something I've wudn't have even thought of, which was you
[32:02] Speaker 1: pre sold McLaren race cars.
[32:04] Speaker 2: Yeah, something new for.
[32:06] Speaker 1: Us and the Crown. Yeah, how how did that go?
[32:09] Speaker 1: Would you ever do it again? Yeah?
[32:11] Speaker 2: I think we would on a very limited basis, but
[32:14] Speaker 2: it's the ultimate experience. You know, we've got fans of
[32:18] Speaker 2: all shapes and sizes, if you'd like u in all
[32:21] Speaker 2: various degrees. If we want to make sure that all
[32:25] Speaker 2: the little boys and girls have everything from a lunch
[32:27] Speaker 2: box that they can take to school, that will eventually,
[32:30] Speaker 2: you know, maybe be a McLaren byer or certainly a
[32:32] Speaker 2: McLaren fan all the way up to you know, people
[32:35] Speaker 2: that are well off and can you know, spend millions
[32:38] Speaker 2: of dollars on on race cars. So we want to
[32:41] Speaker 2: appeal to all of our McLaren fans, today's fans and
[32:44] Speaker 2: tomorrow's fans.
[32:45] Speaker 3: I have the I have the pin that you have
[32:47] Speaker 3: on your jacket because my first f one race I
[32:50] Speaker 3: ever went to was in Hawkenheim with David Kutard. Oh yeah,
[32:54] Speaker 3: and I got the pin there is Monterey. We Hannah
[32:58] Speaker 3: and I were talking about lamon last here as kind
[33:00] Speaker 3: of the Davos of car people. I've never been to
[33:04] Speaker 3: Pebble Beach, I know. We interviewed Jim Farley from there
[33:07] Speaker 3: last year. Great and he's he's always there. So is
[33:11] Speaker 3: that one of your favorite events?
[33:12] Speaker 2: Also?
[33:13] Speaker 3: Yeah?
[33:13] Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a must at ten because it's you know,
[33:15] Speaker 2: the ultimate car people. You know, total petrol heads. You
[33:18] Speaker 2: see every type of race car there. You've got unbelievable events.
[33:21] Speaker 2: Laguna Sayka is amazing, You've got Pebble Beach, You've got golf.
[33:24] Speaker 2: We'll bring our new McLaren golf clubs. And so to me,
[33:27] Speaker 2: it's just like the ultimate week of people, cars, food, wine, restaurant,
[33:35] Speaker 2: seventeen mile drive. I mean, it's all there, and.
[33:40] Speaker 1: I should say it's something for everybody too. I Mean
[33:42] Speaker 1: everyone thinks it's like all this really expensive stuff, and
[33:46] Speaker 1: some of it is. But what I also love about
[33:49] Speaker 1: it is you can just stand by the side of
[33:50] Speaker 1: the road.
[33:51] Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, No, you can participate and take it
[33:55] Speaker 2: in and kind of just enjoy it for what it is.
[33:59] Speaker 2: The scenery golf, and you know, the cars, whether you're
[34:02] Speaker 2: buying cars, driving cars, looking at cars, it's just an
[34:05] Speaker 2: unbelievable environment and great weather and just you know, beautiful area.
[34:11] Speaker 3: Well, Zach, thank you so much for joining us. We
[34:14] Speaker 3: really appreciate your time today.
[34:15] Speaker 2: Thank you, Van.
[34:16] Speaker 3: You obviously are a very busy man, so we're gonna
[34:18] Speaker 3: let you go. H but really, really really great to
[34:21] Speaker 3: spend some time with you.
[34:22] Speaker 2: Thanks so much. Thank you.
[34:24] Speaker 3: That was the CEO of McLaren Racing, Zach Brown. And
[34:27] Speaker 3: what an awesome dude to talk to just about like
[34:30] Speaker 3: racing and cars and life. I mean, he's a genuinely
[34:34] Speaker 3: cool guy.
[34:36] Speaker 1: Yeah, I And I think it's also very it's pretty rare,
[34:39] Speaker 1: as you and I have spoken about before that some
[34:41] Speaker 1: of these guys are actually out there racing too, in
[34:45] Speaker 1: addition to running all the racing there. And I know
[34:49] Speaker 1: he loves this Iraq series that he does and like
[34:52] Speaker 1: sounds like he's going to be racing a Ferrari pretty soon.
[34:56] Speaker 1: I mean that also is a lot.
[35:00] Speaker 2: It is quite rare.
[35:01] Speaker 3: Actually, you know, you wrote a story I think about
[35:03] Speaker 3: Jim Farley, the CEO. Ford also like has a clause
[35:07] Speaker 3: in his contract that he's allowed to race and his
[35:09] Speaker 3: wife lets him, but most CEOs are not allowed to
[35:13] Speaker 3: because there's too much risk.
[35:16] Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, I don't. I mean, it's very cool
[35:19] Speaker 1: that he got around that. I wonder if Total Wolf
[35:23] Speaker 1: ever wants to get out in a race.
[35:25] Speaker 3: He did right, he raised it before he started his
[35:29] Speaker 3: career in management.
[35:31] Speaker 1: I wonder if he ever sort of wishes.
[35:33] Speaker 3: Did we ask Susie about that. I wonder if she
[35:35] Speaker 3: still gets in the race car.
[35:37] Speaker 1: I don't know, it'd be really interesting to talk to
[35:40] Speaker 1: them about that, you know, like I don't think race
[35:44] Speaker 1: I don't know, but is race racing something you kind
[35:48] Speaker 1: of just jump into and jump out to out of no,
[35:50] Speaker 1: like once.
[35:51] Speaker 2: You turn it.
[35:52] Speaker 3: You know, there's certain CEOs. So I know Oliver SIPs
[35:55] Speaker 3: from BMW. He does spend a lot of time on
[35:58] Speaker 3: the track for fun. I'm not sure or if they're
[36:00] Speaker 3: in competitive races. Herbert Deese, who used to run Folkswagen
[36:05] Speaker 3: races motorcycles on the track because he used to run
[36:09] Speaker 3: motorcycles and brought out the S one thousand double r
[36:13] Speaker 3: at BMW. Mary Bara, she is really into race cars.
[36:20] Speaker 3: I don't know if she spends a lot of track time.
[36:22] Speaker 3: Antonio Felosa from Stilantis. I doubt he has much time
[36:28] Speaker 3: to race on the track. He sort of grew up
[36:30] Speaker 3: under Sergio Marchioni and was probably work, work, work all
[36:32] Speaker 3: the time. So yeah, it's pretty rare.
[36:36] Speaker 1: Yeah, it's very rare. And here's something else that's really interesting.
[36:39] Speaker 1: Do you judge automotive executives whether or not they're quote
[36:45] Speaker 1: unquote car people.
[36:46] Speaker 2: No, I don't.
[36:48] Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't either, But there's still something within the
[36:52] Speaker 1: car world where, you know, people kind of want to know,
[36:55] Speaker 1: is this automotive executive a car, like, you know, a
[36:59] Speaker 1: real carp whatever that actually even means. And the reason
[37:02] Speaker 1: why I'm bringing this up is because I was talking
[37:04] Speaker 1: to one of another of our favorites, Kevin Tynan, who
[37:07] Speaker 1: used to work at Bloomberg. He used to work for
[37:08] Speaker 1: Bloomberg Intelligence, and he made this great point to me
[37:13] Speaker 1: that he was like, the purpose of car companies isn't
[37:18] Speaker 1: to sell cars. The purpose of car companies is to
[37:21] Speaker 1: make money. And sometimes the problem is they think their
[37:25] Speaker 1: purpose is to sell cars for the love of cars.
[37:28] Speaker 1: And we had this whole discussion about how actually it's
[37:31] Speaker 1: an advantage sometimes if you have people who aren't car
[37:34] Speaker 1: people leading the company because they understand the business right
[37:39] Speaker 1: and they don't. This is a bit of a tangent,
[37:42] Speaker 1: but you see what I mean. I think it's a
[37:44] Speaker 1: very interesting to think about that because there is something
[37:47] Speaker 1: still in my head that I do want to know, Oh,
[37:50] Speaker 1: does that to so and so race to so and
[37:51] Speaker 1: so own a million cool cars? Which is all very interesting,
[37:55] Speaker 1: But I don't think they have to to be successful
[37:57] Speaker 1: running a car company.
[37:59] Speaker 3: Well, I mean I was thinking that. You meant, like,
[38:02] Speaker 3: do I still have respect for, for example, Stephen Winkleman, right,
[38:06] Speaker 3: who runs Lamborghini. I love their products, you know there,
[38:12] Speaker 3: I know some of my favorite vehicles in the world.
[38:15] Speaker 3: But he's not really an obsessive car guy. Like he
[38:18] Speaker 3: doesn't spend his weekends wrenching in the garage. And I
[38:22] Speaker 3: still have incredible, an incredible amount of respect for him,
[38:25] Speaker 3: not only.
[38:25] Speaker 2: As a CEO.
[38:27] Speaker 3: Yes, as a CEO, he's been incredibly successful. He's also
[38:30] Speaker 3: run Bugatti, he's also run out rs, He's he's done
[38:34] Speaker 3: well for his board, for his shareholders, he's got great returns,
[38:39] Speaker 3: and his products are amazing, right at all of those companies.
[38:43] Speaker 3: And I also have a lot of respect for him
[38:44] Speaker 3: as a human being. And then there are people like
[38:48] Speaker 3: Jim Farley, who is a car guy through and through
[38:51] Speaker 3: right he still is a great CEO. It doesn't mean
[38:54] Speaker 3: he isn't good at business, but I know that he
[38:56] Speaker 3: makes something like a Raptor for me, you know, or
[39:01] Speaker 3: or the Mustang, like he's not going to give up
[39:03] Speaker 3: on making a V eight with with a stick shift
[39:06] Speaker 3: because he wants to offer that to the American people.
[39:09] Speaker 3: And by the way, there are like at General Motors,
[39:13] Speaker 3: for example, I have faith that Mark Royce is going
[39:15] Speaker 3: to keep delivering the things that car guys want, while
[39:20] Speaker 3: Mary Bara is going to make sure that the company
[39:23] Speaker 3: runs smoothly, the employees have a well paying job. You know,
[39:27] Speaker 3: she does her best for Michigan in America, like different
[39:31] Speaker 3: people serve different roles. So yeah, I think I don't
[39:35] Speaker 3: judge a car car maker CEO entirely on his garage.
[39:40] Speaker 1: I think I think you can use your strengths in
[39:42] Speaker 1: either way. It's it's and it's actually interesting to see
[39:47] Speaker 1: the people who are and who are not and how
[39:50] Speaker 1: they how they move, how they work. I think that's
[39:52] Speaker 1: one of the reasons why we love having them on
[39:54] Speaker 1: the podcast, because it's interesting to get inside their head
[39:56] Speaker 1: and see what see what assets their bridging to make
[40:01] Speaker 1: the company do well.
[40:02] Speaker 3: This is a really good podcast. We have a good podcast,
[40:05] Speaker 3: you know that.
[40:06] Speaker 1: I like it. I have fun. I think it's very interesting.
[40:09] Speaker 3: Speaking of having fun, what are you up to this weekend?
[40:12] Speaker 1: Oh well, I'm going to endy.
[40:15] Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's right. God, You're so lucky. How did
[40:17] Speaker 2: you How did that happen?
[40:19] Speaker 3: Did you just decide, like, what are we doing, Magnus,
[40:21] Speaker 3: let's go to watch one of the most important races
[40:23] Speaker 3: in the world.
[40:25] Speaker 1: I'm going as a plus one. Magnus got invited, So
[40:28] Speaker 1: I'm going as a plus one, which is awesome.
[40:32] Speaker 2: That is so cool.
[40:34] Speaker 1: I know it's it feels kind of like, weirdly a vacation,
[40:37] Speaker 1: even though it's still car related. I'm just going as
[40:41] Speaker 1: his guest, which is awesome. He got the invite.
[40:45] Speaker 3: I I can't believe I've never been as a as
[40:48] Speaker 3: a as an Ohioan, you know, as a boy from Columbus.
[40:51] Speaker 3: I feel like I should already have been sometime in
[40:54] Speaker 3: the last fifty years. I should already have rented an
[40:56] Speaker 3: RV with friends or family and you know, gone with
[41:01] Speaker 3: two or three suitcases of bud Budweiser beer and cans,
[41:06] Speaker 3: but I've never I can't wait to watch the race
[41:09] Speaker 3: this weekend.
[41:10] Speaker 1: I admit I know really nothing about IndyCar. You know
[41:14] Speaker 1: Alexander Rossi, of course is we're friendly. I've known him
[41:18] Speaker 1: for years. Great person, great driver, great champion, great indie champion.
[41:24] Speaker 1: So you know, I'm friends with alex But I don't
[41:28] Speaker 1: know very much about Indie racing, so I'm really looking
[41:30] Speaker 1: forward to learning and seeing what it's all about.
[41:33] Speaker 3: Dario used to race IndyCar.
[41:37] Speaker 1: Good point, good point.
[41:38] Speaker 2: Yeah, I love Dart.
[41:40] Speaker 3: Yeah all right, well that's awesome. I I was supposed
[41:45] Speaker 3: to go to the beach with my kids for a
[41:48] Speaker 3: long weekend. It is a long weekend, right yeah, moriial day,
[41:52] Speaker 3: right yeah, But my buddies at BMW are dropping off
[41:58] Speaker 3: an M two CS at my house today, and I
[42:03] Speaker 3: kind of want to just ask my wife if I
[42:06] Speaker 3: can have a pass and just spend the weekend driving it,
[42:10] Speaker 3: because have you seen the M two CS. It's got
[42:12] Speaker 3: this little ductail that's additional that the base M two
[42:17] Speaker 3: doesn't have, and it looks freaking awesome. Like I am
[42:21] Speaker 3: not one of the people who hated the redesign. I
[42:23] Speaker 3: really liked the redesign of the M two And although
[42:28] Speaker 3: you can't get a manual transmission with the CS, I'm
[42:32] Speaker 3: really I mean it's a little rocket ship. I can't
[42:34] Speaker 3: wait to get into it. And by the way, I'm
[42:35] Speaker 3: looking at M two's online, looking at you know, with
[42:38] Speaker 3: a stick you can get two or three year old
[42:42] Speaker 3: M two with a stick and like ten or fifteen
[42:46] Speaker 3: thousand miles still for like sixty grand.
[42:49] Speaker 2: It's so cheap.
[42:50] Speaker 3: And I mean relative to for example, a nine to eleven,
[42:55] Speaker 3: like same year, same horsepower, same you know, manual transmission
[43:00] Speaker 3: set up with a nine to eleven is going to
[43:01] Speaker 3: cost you at least double, if not triple, what you're
[43:06] Speaker 3: paying for the M two. And other than the placement
[43:09] Speaker 3: of the engine, they kind of achieve the same purpose.
[43:13] Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm I can't wait. I can't wait to hear
[43:17] Speaker 1: up all about it. I haven't I haven't been in
[43:20] Speaker 1: a BMW in months. Well, maybe I should knock on
[43:25] Speaker 1: their core.
[43:25] Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll tell I'll tell them when I when I
[43:27] Speaker 3: drop off the car after the after I put the
[43:31] Speaker 3: requisite five hundred miles on it. All right, Well, good,
[43:34] Speaker 3: have a great weekend, uh, and to all our listeners.
[43:38] Speaker 3: Do write in. Our email is Hot Pursuit at Bloomberg
[43:43] Speaker 3: dot net. We value we cherish your emails, read and
[43:47] Speaker 3: respond to them. We bring them up on air.
[43:49] Speaker 1: So, speaking of email, I have to thank Sean for
[43:53] Speaker 1: emailing he wanted to let us know that. Speaking of
[43:55] Speaker 1: Corvette corvettes, Michael Jordan's z R one is now at
[44:00] Speaker 1: the National Corvette Museum. So anybody who's around there interested
[44:06] Speaker 1: in corvettes, it's a nineteen ninety three Corvette ZR one
[44:11] Speaker 1: owned by Michael Jordan, now at the National Corvette Museum.
[44:15] Speaker 3: I gotta get down there at some point.
[44:16] Speaker 1: Bloby read fortieth anniversary.
[44:19] Speaker 3: Oh yeah, good note, good note. Visit the museum if
[44:22] Speaker 3: you're down in what is it? Bowling Green, Kentucky. That
[44:26] Speaker 3: does it for this week's show. Remember to follow and
[44:28] Speaker 3: subscribe to Hot Pursuit on Apple, Spotify, and anywhere else
[44:31] Speaker 3: you listen. You can also send us your comments Email
[44:34] Speaker 3: us at Hot Pursuit at Bloomberg dot.
[44:36] Speaker 1: Next, and you can check out my columns and stories
[44:39] Speaker 1: on Bloomberg dot com and the Bloomberg Business app. Go
[44:42] Speaker 1: there for car reviews, events and stories that you won't
[44:45] Speaker 1: find anywhere else. Follow it all at Bloomberg dot Com.
[44:49] Speaker 1: Slash Pursuits, slash Autos, I'm Hannah.
[44:52] Speaker 3: Elliott and I'm Matt Miller will be back in your
[44:54] Speaker 3: podcast feed again next week

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