McLaren Racing closes in on $1 billion revenue mark as Zak Brown lands $100 million payout

McLaren Racing is set to become the first Formula 1 team to cross the $1 billion annual revenue threshold, with financial accounts for the 2025 calendar year due to be filed this week, according to a report by Sky News. The Woking-based outfit is expected to declare revenue of £588 million ($779.6 million), with F1 activities accounting for more than 90% of the total — the remainder coming from McLaren’s IndyCar operations.

The filings are also expected to confirm a record payout of over £75.4 million ($100 million) for McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown. That figure dwarfs his 2024 package, which comprised a £6 million base salary and a £31 million long-term incentive plan. The outsized 2025 sum is tied to a share award triggered by a corporate buyout in which Bahrain’s Mumtalakat sovereign wealth fund and Abu Dhabi’s CYVN Holdings acquired the remaining 30% of external shares in McLaren Racing, valuing the team at £3.5 billion.

Brown has spoken openly about the commercial momentum driving those numbers. In a Bloomberg interview following the stake sale, he described the sport’s trajectory in bullish terms. “The sport is on fire — every metric, demand for teams,” he said. “It wasn’t long ago that Liberty [Media] acquired the sport and put a cost cap in place, which kind of ensured everyone’s financial stability and on-track stability and competitiveness. So it’s been a wonderful thing.”

Brown also pushed back on suggestions that F1 team valuations may have peaked. “I think if you look at sports in general, they’ve only been going north forever. Every time there’s a record deal, everyone goes, ‘Oh, that was crazy’ — and then you look back in five years and they’ve still gone up,” he said. “We have 24 races, we have demand for probably 30 grands prix, so the demand is strong.”

He pointed to the breadth of on-track competition in 2024 — four constructors and seven drivers winning multiple races — as evidence that the sport’s appeal extends beyond any single dominant team. “It’s the first time I’ve seen that in my 30 years of following the sport,” Brown said. “The demand for grands prix has never been stronger, so I think the sport, in many ways, is just getting going.”

Should the filings confirm the projected figures, McLaren would become a landmark case study in how a restructured cost environment and surging global interest have transformed the financial ceiling for Formula 1 teams.