McLaren is on course to set a new Formula 1 financial record, with estimates suggesting it could become the first team in the championship’s history to generate $1 billion in annual revenue. The milestone would add another chapter to a remarkable sporting and commercial recovery for the Woking operation.
The rise has been accompanied by major success on track. McLaren won the Constructors’ Championship in 2024, its first in 26 years, before Lando Norris secured the team’s first Drivers’ Championship since 2008 in 2025 following a long title battle with Max Verstappen. The pair were ultimately separated by just two points.
McLaren closes in on $1 billion revenue milestone
Sky News reports that McLaren is now approaching an unprecedented financial landmark. McLaren Racing Ltd’s 2025 accounts show revenue of £588 million, equivalent to approximately $780 million, putting the team within reach of becoming the first Formula 1 operation to break through the $1 billion annual revenue barrier.
The figures underline the scale of McLaren’s transformation after a period in which the team had fallen from regular race winner and championship contender to the back of the Formula 1 grid.
Zak Brown and McLaren’s transformation
Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, received compensation worth $100 million last year. The figure was connected to the buyout of minority shareholders.
Zak Brown took charge of McLaren in 2017 during one of the most difficult periods in the team’s history. In the preceding years, McLaren had suffered a rapid and significant decline. After previously competing regularly for race victories and championships, the team dropped towards the rear of the grid following its switch to Honda engines in 2015. The deterioration in results was also accompanied by the loss of several sponsors.
Under Zak Brown’s leadership, the situation has gradually been reversed through a slow but consistent rebuilding process. Commercially, McLaren now works with major global brands including Mastercard, Google, DP World and Allwyn.
On the sporting side, McLaren has secured reigning World Champion Lando Norris on a long-term contract. The team’s resurgence has made Woking increasingly attractive across Formula 1, with four-time World Champion Max Verstappen also showing interest in McLaren in recent months. The Dutch driver nevertheless remains tied to Red Bull under a long-term agreement that still includes contractual exit clauses.
McLaren expands ambitions beyond Formula 1
Formula 1 is not McLaren’s only racing programme. The organisation also competes in IndyCar, an operation that accounts for approximately 10% of its overall revenue.
Its Formula E programme, meanwhile, ended last year as McLaren shifted its attention towards another major motorsport project. In 2027, the Woking operation is set to return to the top category of the FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The move expands McLaren’s presence in international motorsport at a time when its Formula 1 operation has returned to championship-winning form. The scale of its commercial recovery also reflects how far the organisation has progressed since the difficult period Zak Brown inherited in 2017.
McLaren growth extends into automotive business
The growth of the wider McLaren brand is continuing beyond motorsport. At the beginning of September, the group announced the creation of 1,000 new jobs in the United Kingdom.
The British government welcomed the investment as a sign of confidence in the country’s domestic industry at a time when the labour market remains relatively fragile.
With McLaren Racing already generating £588 million in annual revenue and the wider organisation expanding its motorsport and automotive activities, the potential $1 billion milestone would represent another significant marker in the company’s recovery. It would also establish a new commercial benchmark for a Formula 1 team.
Leave a Reply