Brown ‘removes’ the McLaren engine: “Number one priority is to stay with Mercedes”

New rules, but always customers. The hypotheses on a possible regulatory change regarding engines which, starting from 2030 or 2031, would reintroduce the much talked about V8 into Formula 1 has raised the possibility that a historic team on the grid like McLaren – the current reigning Drivers’ and Constructors’ world champion – could decide to free itself from Mercedes and become the manufacturer of its own engine, exactly as Red Bull has done starting this season. Speaking to journalists present in Monaco for the Principality GP weekend, however, Zak Brown responded to this possibility by decidedly cooling the possibility of ‘self-production’ papaya for the next regulatory cycle. The Californian manager, who brought the historic English team back to the golden age after a long dark period, did not categorically exclude the possibility of a McLaren engine in the future, but clarified that this is not the team’s property. Brown’s words: “First of all, I am very satisfied with Mercedes HPP – commented Brown, thus also putting a stop to all the tensions that had emerged at the beginning of this season, in which Mercedes had not provided full support to McLaren in terms of understanding the power unit – they have been an exceptional partner. We won a couple of championships together with them, even if everyone said that you could not win a championship as a customer team. We have shown that it is possible. I think the number one priority is to stay with Mercedes. I think they have been a fantastic partner so far. Whenever a new regulation comes out, we will look at it to see if it is something interesting from a technical point of view and if it makes sense from an economic point of view. I think we will follow this process when that happens. At this moment, we are extremely satisfied with Mercedes and we plan to continue with them.”

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-06-05 23:29:00