McLaren CEO Zak Brown admits IndyCar needs to raise its game with F1-like car launches

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown recently spoke about how IndyCar needs to embrace live car launch events as F1 teams do annually. In 2025, IndyCar's newest team, PREMA Racing, was the only one to put up a show for fans and streamed it live on YouTube.

Ahead of its debut in IndyCar, PREMA unveiled its cars in an event attended by the media, potential partners, and industry leaders on January 10 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team leaders and new drivers, Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman, spoke about their expectations and the legacy of the team they once raced within the junior Formula series.

The entire event was streamed live on PREMA Racing's YouTube channel for the fans.

Zak Brown, who also leads McLaren's IndyCar team, Arrow McLaren, agreed that all IndyCar teams need to follow suit next year onwards. However, he explained how these events would only make sense if the teams had technical developments to show on the cars rather than just new paint schemes.

"Yeah, we definitely need to do that," Brown told RACER. "But that also comes with getting some new equipment every once in a while. Because right now, there’s nothing super exciting about a new livery… because it’s just livery. But I think what PREMA did, which I saw, I thought was very good. We’ve done our version of that, and I think there’s more we can take from what other series are doing with their launches. We need to do more."

Brown's statement about the new equipment comes as a result of IndyCar using the same Dallara DW12 chassis since 2012. F1, contrastingly, has brought about major regulation changes, including radical changes to the cars twice in the last decade (2014 and 2022), and the next regulations sweep will be implemented in 2026.

Zak Brown, who joined McLaren in 2016, was also present at the grand F175 event on February 18, with all 10 teams unveiling their 2025 liveries on the same day in the first-of-its-kind event. F1 organized this to mark the 75th year since the pinnacle of motorsport's first official season in 1950.

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Zak Brown shares emotional post after meeting Mario Andretti and other F1 legends before F175

F1 75 Live - Press Conference - Source: Getty

In the days building up to F175, many greats of the sport gathered in London for a special dinner outing at Gordon Ramsay's Lucky Cat restaurant. Zak Brown was present at the star-studded dinner and got to meet his F1 idols.

On February 18, he shared a photo on Instagram of him with four legends of the sport - Mika Hakkinen, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, and Nigel Mansell. These four drivers have six F1 drivers' championships among them.

The heartwarming caption to Zak Brown's post read:

"I’m often asked if I ever take a moment to reflect on how fortunate I am to be CEO of McLaren. The reality is, I rarely do as I’m always fully focused on the present, helping our team push for success. But tonight, celebrating 75 years of @F1, I had dinner at @luckycatbygordonramsay with the biggest legends of our sport - four of my five all-time favourite drivers: @EmersonFittipaldi, @F1MikaHakkinen, @andrettimario, and @NigelMansell. Only Ayrton was missing. I truly wish I’d had the chance to meet him back in the day, but tonight provided a priceless moment that reminds me why I love this sport so much."

All those legends and more were present at the F175 season launch event at the O2 arena on Tuesday. Host and comedian Jack Whitehall led the evening's proceedings for the event, which was a hit among fans of the sport.

Zak Brown commended F1 for coming up with such a powerhouse event idea and couldn't help but envision an even greater future for the pinnacle of motorsport.

"I think this event is an awesome way to kick off the year," he said (via Autosport).

McLaren is at a pivotal junction in both IndyCar and F1. Tony Kanaan has been promoted to Team Principal of the IndyCar team and their F1 arm is shooting for a long-overdue F1 drivers' championship with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.