Lando Norris says he’s given up alcohol and partying – but even if he did abstain from celebrating his Monaco Grand Prix victory, chances are he didn’t have a restful night.
He outlined in the post-race press conference why he can’t be entirely at ease. Yes, the Monaco win was a huge relief and a vital boost for his still-alive title campaign. Yes, that pole lap in qualifying was nothing short of spectacular and gave a much-needed lift to Norris, who had been struggling in recent weeks.
But no – he’s not quite back to his old self yet. At least, that’s how Formula 1’s most self-aware driver sees it.
Norris admitted he still needs to find consistency in his performances; Monaco, after all, is a unique weekend. His relationship with the MCL39 and his overall confidence in the car, he said, still have room for improvement. And the championship lead still belongs to team-mate Oscar Piastri – though the gap between the two McLaren stars at the top is now down to just three points.
One person who’s likely enjoying this scenario as much as Sunday’s post-win champagne is McLaren CEO Zak Brown. The American is famously passionate about motor racing. And, while Lando was donning a tuxedo for the traditional royal dinner at the palace, his boss was already airborne – because the Monaco Grand Prix wasn’t the only major motorsport event last weekend.
In past years, Brown has skipped Formula 1’s most glamorous race, leaving operations in the capable hands of team principal Andrea Stella. Why? Because the legendary Indianapolis 500 takes place on the very same weekend.
This year, however, McLaren’s status as frontrunner made Monaco too tempting to miss. And once Norris crossed the finish line in first place, it was clear that Brown had made a prudent bet when planning his itinerary.
It was McLaren’s first Monaco victory since Lewis Hamilton’s fortunate and rain-soaked win in 2008. Yet, once upon a time, Monte Carlo was practically McLaren’s backyard – between 1984 and 1993, the team won nine out of ten races there with Alain Prost and the principality’s undisputed king, Ayrton Senna. To this day, McLaren holds the record for most wins on the tight Mediterranean street circuit – now at 16.
In 2025, McLaren is once again a dominant force in Formula 1. After clinching the constructors’ championship last season, the team now looks poised to challenge for the drivers’ crown as well. And Brown is seen as the architect of this renaissance.
As such, the 53-year-old – who owns an enviable collection of classic race cars and loves to drive them himself – was therefore the right man on the podium in Monaco to collect the constructors' trophy. His jubilant roars, just like after Saturday’s pole position, were saved for the pitwall – since decorum dictates that one doesn’t celebrate in Prince Albert and Princess Charlene’s royal box as if one’s NFL team had just scored a touchdown…
Speaking of which, Brown’s charter flight back to the US arrived too late for him to catch the Indy 500 live. He might have overseen a transformation of both the company and its F1 team over the past eight years but he can’t bend time. Still, he had hoped to trade the champagne in Monaco for a sip of Indy’s traditional winner’s milk.
Alas, it wasn’t to be. You can’t win them all – at least not all at once. McLaren’s top finisher at Indy this time was Pato O’Ward in fourth, the same driver who’d come heartbreakingly close to victory the previous year with Brown cheering from the pitwall. Instead, the win went to Alex Palou – the very man Brown had tried (and failed) to lure to McLaren’s IndyCar team in 2022, including a signed contract and a lost legal battle with Chip Ganassi.
Still, it speaks to Brown’s eye for talent – and in a way, it fits the broader narrative: he isn’t the kind of guy who would miss McLaren’s first Indy 500 victory since the 1970s (when the team won three times as a chassis constructor and twice as a full entry). When it finally happens again, you can be sure Brown will be right there on the Brickyard’s front row. Just as he plans to be at Le Mans – where, this year, he’ll skip the Canadian Grand Prix to attend.
That next transatlantic trip will carry the same purpose as last Sunday – only in a different colour scheme. Because Zak Brown is chasing motor racing’s so-called ‘triple crown’ – victories in the Indy 500, the Monaco Grand Prix, and the Le Mans 24 Hours.
This year is the 30th anniversary of McLaren’s Le Mans win with the F1 GTR. The company plans to return to Le Mans as a contender for overall victory with an LMDh hypercar starting in 2027 – a project Brown officially announced in early April.
Unbelievable but true: that 1995 victory made McLaren the first – and still only – constructor in motorsport history to win the triple crown.
Zak Brown clearly sees that as a legacy to honour – and now he’s aiming to repeat the feat under his leadership. Should he succeed, he will be more than just a custodian of the brand – his name will rank alongside that of McLaren legend Ron Dennis.
