Zak Brown: We are trying to destabilize our rivals.

      Zak Brown has in recent years become one of the more prominent figures in the paddock, especially as McLaren has performed more successfully each season. But the chief executive of McLaren Racing attracts attention for more than that.

      He admits that in public debates with the bosses of other teams he deliberately tries to throw them off balance — as was the case in his disputes with Christian Horner, now the former head of Red Bull Racing. In Brown’s view, it’s a perfectly normal tactic, given how politicized the world of Formula 1 is.

      “Teams compete in every area — the fight is for drivers, for sponsors, for staff,” Brown admitted on London’s talkSPORT. “I mean, the fighting is real — I think it’s one of those sides of Formula 1 that’s well shown in the documentary series Drive to Survive.

      Our sport is very politicized, and off-track there’s as sharp a rivalry as there is on track. I’m not an expert in other sports, but in Formula 1 we try to destabilize other teams. In general, we’re not only trying to make our team as strong as possible.

      Andrea Stella, who runs our team, calls it ‘poisoned pastries’… You have to admit, you see examples of this behaviour among the drivers too. They sort things out with each other; it’s all psychological games aimed at getting into opponents’ heads, and this happens at every level.

      Horner was a particular kind of team principal in that sense, and although, of course, he’s had big trouble over the past two years, I think he’ll be back. But I suppose our sport is full of characters of all kinds — there are good guys, there are bad guys. People are different, and I think that’s what makes our sport so interesting.”