Who slept best last night: Zak Brown

(Motorsport-Total.com) - Dear readers,

Of course, one could have easily let winner Lando Norris sleep well on this Monday after the Monaco Grand Prix - but on the one hand, it is doubtful that he even slept a wink after a well-deserved night of partying in the principality, and on the other hand, he himself revealed a decisive criterion in the press conference after the race that speaks against it:

Yes, the Monaco victory was a liberating moment and extremely important for his intact World Championship campaign. Yes, the pole lap in qualifying was à la bonne heure and, on top of that, a huge ego boost for the recently ailing Norris. But no, he's still not quite back to his old self – at least that's what the most sensitive of the current top drivers himself thinks.

Norris or Piastri? Brown has two hot irons in the fire

It is to Norris' credit that after a strong performance in Monaco, he does not immediately play the strong Maxen again - but assesses the situation realistically:

He first needs to get his performances consistent again, as Monaco is just a special weekend. There's still room for improvement in his relationship with the MCL39 and his confidence in the car. And teammate Oscar Piastri still holds the World Championship lead – although the two McLaren stars are now separated by only three points.

However, one person might enjoy this very fact at least as much as the winner's champagne on Sunday: McLaren CEO Zak Brown. The American is known to be a "racer by heart," so may the better man win, and this time that was Norris. But while the Briton, dressed in a fine tuxedo, arrived at the traditional dinner at the Prince's Palace, his boss had long since returned to the air – after all, the Monaco Grand Prix wasn't the only racing spectacle this weekend.

In recent years, Brown had often skipped the Formula 1 season highlight, leaving the on-site affairs entirely to his congenial partner and team boss Andrea Stella - after all, the legendary Indy 500 always takes place in parallel on the last weekend in May in Brown's American homeland.

Brown bets on Monaco - and makes the right choice

This year, however, it seems that the prospect of the "Big One" in Monaco was too tempting given McLaren's current status as favorite in the premier class: And with the finish line and Norris' victory, it was clear that Brown had put his chips on the right field when planning his trip.

For the traditional team from Woking, it was indeed the first Monaco victory since Lewis Hamilton's lucky triumph in the rain in 2008. Monte Carlo was once McLaren's living room, starting in 1984, when the racing team, with Alain Prost and Monaco King Ayrton Senna, won nine times in ten years in the principality. To this day, the Papaya team holds the record for winners on the narrow track through the urban canyons on the Mediterranean – with 16 victories to date.

By 2025, McLaren will finally dominate Formula 1 again, and after winning the Constructors' title last year, their chances in the Drivers' Championship this year are also excellent. And Brown is the father of this success: The Californian has transformed the sleeping giant into a top team again, even shaping it into the current top team in Formula 1.

After the winner photos we headed to the airport

Consequently, the 53-year-old, who has a rare and illustrious collection of racing cars and loves to drive his own automotive treasures around the racetrack, was also allowed to attend the awards ceremony in Monaco on Sunday to accept the trophy for the winning constructor.

He preferred to let out his fervent cheers - as he did after the pole on Saturday - in familiar surroundings at the command post: In the elite royal box with Prince Albert and Princess Charlène, such behavior is not appropriate, as if one's favorite football team had just scored a touchdown - or even won the Superbowl - after all.

Keyword touchdown: On US soil, the touchdown, after Brown's charter flight, was of course too late to arrive in Indianapolis during the race – because even the man who breathed new life into McLaren can't yet travel through time. And yet, at least that was Brown's hope, that after the champagne in Monaco, he could also dust off a last bit of the winning milk in Indy...

Indy is the next goal - then Le Mans in 2027

In vain, the wish was not fulfilled: After all, you can't win them all (at once): Pato O'Ward, who had narrowly missed victory last year in Brown's presence, finished fourth this time as the best McLaren. Instead, the winner was Alex Palou, a man Brown had tried in vain to lure to McLaren's IndyCar team in 2022 – including a signed contract and a lost court battle with Chip Ganassi.

Still, it's proof of his good instincts. And somehow it fits the narrative better: Brown isn't one to miss McLaren's first Indy 500 victory since its successes in the 1970s (three as a chassis manufacturer, two as a team). If that happens one day, he'll be on the front row at the Brickyard. Just like at Le Mans, where the American has already announced his intention to compete this year, but is skipping the Canadian Grand Prix.

For him, the next transatlantic flight has, in a sense, the same background as Sunday's, just a different twist: Brown is chasing the Triple Crown – and, as we all know, that's a good thing! Starting in the 2027 season, McLaren plans to challenge for overall victory at the classic Le Mans 24 Hours with an LMDh hypercar.

The CEO had already announced this at the beginning of April, in keeping with the 30th anniversary of McLaren's only Le Mans victory in 1995. Incredible but true: This made McLaren the first and, to date, only racing team in the history of motorsport to win the Triple Crown!

Brown apparently sees this as an obligation – and is now aiming for a repeat performance under his aegis. If he actually succeeds, his legacy will soon be just as good as that of McLaren legend Ron Dennis...

Yours, Frederik Hackbarth