McLaren boss Zak Brown frustrated to miss ‘Lando-mania’ and Andretti F1 car demo after positive Covid test

McLaren CEO Zak Brown was caught off guard by a positive coronavirus test that will see him sit out the British Grand Prix weekend, but the team boss was more frustrated to be missing the turnout of home fans cheering on Lando Norris and McLaren – plus the chance to drive a very special Formula 1 car himself…

Brown was revealed to have tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday lunchtime, along with two other McLaren team members, and will isolate during the British Grand Prix, which will have thousands of fans in attendance.

READ MORE: McLaren boss Zak Brown to miss British Grand Prix after testing positive for Covid-19

Asked how he was feeling, he replied: “I feel fine. I’m frustrated, because I’m double-vaccinated and I’ve been ultra-careful for a year and a half but it’s just one of these that hits home when it gets you and you’ve got no idea where you’ve got it from.

“I think it’s going to be a huge crowd: McLaren-mania, Lando-mania, [the crowd] being British. We were strong there last year, so I go into these race weekends with a nervous excitement and this won’t feel any different,” he added.

But there was another factor that Brown said he was even more hurt to miss – a surprise, in fact – as he was to demonstrate his very own Lotus 79, in which Mario Andretti won the 1978 world championship, for the fans at Silverstone.

READ MORE: Norris admits he’s ‘not in perfect condition’ ahead of British GP after Wembley mugging incident

“Truth be told, that’s probably the one I was most upset about,” he said. “I had to wave that off.

“Mario drove it at Goodwood last week, so I was going to take part in the demonstration on Friday, Saturday, Sunday – but the car has been around since 1978 so it’s not going anywhere. A little bit of salt in the wound if you were,” he surmised.