Statistically speaking, our drivers can catch Max Verstappen: McLaren CEO
The Straits Times|September 22, 2024
Under Zak Brown's leadership, Fl team has emerged from its years of struggle
Ravi Velloor
Statistically speaking, our drivers can catch Max Verstappen: McLaren CEO

Without question, 2024 has been Zak Brown's best year since becoming McLaren Racing's chief executive officer in 2018.

McLaren's win at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in early September lifted the team past Red Bull in the race for the Formula One constructors' championship. The hero of that race was Oscar Piastri, the 23-year-old Australian it lured away from Alpine.

Meanwhile, in the tussle for driver of the year, his protege, Lando Norris, is breathing down the neck of Red Bull's durable ace Max Verstappen, the man who dominated in 2022 and 2023 but hasn't won since June.

Racing aficionados are now savouring the possibility of a battle akin to 2021's Verstappen versus Lewis Hamilton clash, which was decided on the final lap of the year.

Norris, who will be 25 years old in November, finished a solid fourth in the Azerbaijan race, held in national capital Baku.

Zakary Challen Brown, the man behind McLaren Racing's turnaround, is a former racer himself who went for his first Grand Prix at age 10 and was hooked thereafter on racing. He bought his first go-kart three years later, using money gathered by selling a pair of watches he won as a prize on the Wheel Of Fortune game show.

"We're gonna try this year. We are closing the gap," Brown, 52, told me in a long conversation held on Sept 19 at the team's hotel in Singapore, Conrad Centennial. "I don't see why both our drivers won't start next season with a great shot at winning the championship. Both our drivers are statistically speaking capable of catching Max Verstappen this year. Lando, being the closer of the two, we are giving him all our support to see if he can do it."

Raised in a family of modest means, the California-born, British resident is estimated to be worth more than US$100 million (S$130 million).

Esta historia es de la edición September 22, 2024 de The Straits Times.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición September 22, 2024 de The Straits Times.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE THE STRAITS TIMESVer todo
The many sides of library pioneer Hedwig Anuar and other authors
The Straits Times

The many sides of library pioneer Hedwig Anuar and other authors

Those who know the National Library's former director Hedwig Anuar, 95, as a pioneer of Singapore's library system or women's rights activism will glimpse a different side of her in her newly published early writings.

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 11, 2024
Chef Jamie Oliver pulls children's book after indigenous criticism
The Straits Times

Chef Jamie Oliver pulls children's book after indigenous criticism

British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver (right) has announced he will no longer sell his children's book, after coming under fire for what indigenous critics called \"erasure, trivialisation and stereotyping\".

time-read
1 min  |
November 11, 2024
Dua Lipa cancels Indonesia leg of tour over unsafe staging
The Straits Times

Dua Lipa cancels Indonesia leg of tour over unsafe staging

British-Albanian singer Dua Lipa has cancelled the Indonesian leg of her Asian tour, citing unsafe staging.

time-read
1 min  |
November 11, 2024
Actress Sheila Sim undergoes hair transplant procedure to fix 'prominent bald spot'
The Straits Times

Actress Sheila Sim undergoes hair transplant procedure to fix 'prominent bald spot'

Local actress-model Sheila Sim is feeling less stress over her tresses after undergoing a two-day hair transplant procedure.

time-read
1 min  |
November 11, 2024
Blackpink's Lisa keeps it short and sweet at Marquee
The Straits Times

Blackpink's Lisa keeps it short and sweet at Marquee

Below disco balls and flashing stage lights, Lisa from K-pop girl group Blackpink made a glittering appearance in the early hours of Nov 10 at Marquee Singapore nightclub in Marina Bay Sands.

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 11, 2024
Invisible Habitudes returns to Singapore stage with stronger cohesion
The Straits Times

Invisible Habitudes returns to Singapore stage with stronger cohesion

After almost six years, choreographer and The Human Expression (T.H.E) Dance Company's founding artistic director Kuik Swee Boon's Invisible Habitudes returned to the Singapore stage, with a mix of original cast members and new performers, but surprisingly with an even stronger sense of cohesion.

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 11, 2024
Tech Talks foster conversations around technology and storytelling
The Straits Times

Tech Talks foster conversations around technology and storytelling

The Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) continues building out conversations around the intersection of technology and storytelling.

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 11, 2024
SSO's most exciting and memorable Beethoven concert yet
The Straits Times

SSO's most exciting and memorable Beethoven concert yet

The idea of a concert comprising wholly works by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) is hardly new, yet a fully packed Victoria Concert Hall showed that the great German composer still has a special cachet among concertgoers.

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 11, 2024
Singapore is a city of 'future past,' says Paolo Giordano
The Straits Times

Singapore is a city of 'future past,' says Paolo Giordano

The Italian author is among the 300 people who have been invited to speak or conduct workshops at the festival

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 11, 2024
BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
The Straits Times

BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

Comparing prices, researching products - parents can help their kids learn how to shop responsibly

time-read
5 minutos  |
November 11, 2024