McLaren CEO Zak Brown has explained how he and team boss Andrea Stella received “value” from the insight of former Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle at a recent test alongside Hollywood star Brad Pitt.
The Woking-based squad handed the reins of its 2023 challenger, the MCL60, to Brundle and Pitt, the star of ‘F1: The Movie’ at a TPC [Testing of Previous Cars] test at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
Brundle, who raced in F1 between 1984 and 1996 – including a one year stint with McLaren – and Pitt joined up for the test which formed the basis of a segment shown before the British Grand Prix.
The 66-year-old gave the Hollywood star considerable praise for his handling of the car, a skill honed from months of practice in preparation for shooting the film.
“He was good,” Brundle said. “You know, he was solid out there and it’s not easy to jump in.
“There’s a lot going on and, I said in the piece, like my mental overload of, you know, suddenly the scenery’s coming at you and you’ve got a thousand horsepower under your right foot, and you just get a little beep in your ear and just keep pulling through the gears.
“Then you open the DRS and the world seems to be on warp speed. Then you’ve gotta brake somewhere and you’re not really sure where.
“And then to try to talk while you’re doing it, but it’s a magnificent experience.”
Brundle extended his thanks to Brown and Stella for providing to car to himself and Pitt, describing its TPC programme as “gold dust in terms of lappery.”
“Obviously Lando [Norris] and Oscar [Piastri] were out there, too, and Alex Dunne was out there,” he added.
“So to give the car up to us and me and Brad was very brave of you, Zak, McLaren, and very generous of you!”
Brundle’s feedback ‘useful’ to McLaren – Brown
In the 28 years Brundle has been an F1 broadcaster, he has consistently continued to drive classic and current cars for TV, and in doing so, provides an expert take on all areas of the driving experience.
So it was not particularly risky to entrust the control of the car to him, a sentiment echoed by Brown, who responded in kind to his gratitude.
“It was our pleasure, Martin,” he said.
“I’m a big fan, and we knew you’d bring her back in one piece.
“But actually, Andrea and I were speaking about it the other day; some of the feedback that you gave us on driver mindset stuff, we thought was quite interesting and quite useful.
“So we got value out of it ourselves as well!”
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