McLaren role for Latifi not part of investment discussions

Zak Brown says finding a role within the Formula 1 team for current Force India development driver and Formula 2 racer Nicholas Latifi was never part of talks that resulted in a £200 million investment in the McLaren Group by his father, Michael Latifi.

McLaren confirmed earlier this week that Canadian businessman Latifi had become a shareholder within the group that includes the F1 team, its road car business and its Applied Technologies arm.

The news led to speculation that his son, Nicholas, could be in line for a junior role at Woking in the future, but McLaren Racing CEO Brown denied this was part of the talks.

“No, it’s never been a discussion,” Brown said.

“He’s doing quite well in Formula 2. At McLaren we’re always looking for the best drivers we can get. He’s doing a good job, but it’s never been part of the conversation.”

Latifi’s involvement in McLaren comes at a time when the F1 team is looking to recover some of the financial backing it lost following its split with Honda at the end of last year.

Asked about the impact of Latifi’s investment, Brown said: “Ultimately his investment goes into McLaren Group, so the board and the shareholders will ultimately decide where they want to invest that money.

“I presume it will ultimately be sprinkled into all three business in some way, shape or form and Formula 1 obviously has a big thirst for expenditure to try to keep up with the teams here to the left of me that have a larger budget.

“I’m sure some will go towards investing in our racing team, but also developing our road car and our technology business.”