YAS MARINA, Abu Dhabi -- McLaren's new executive director Zak Brown says flexibility will be the key to achieving his primary goal of bringing a title sponsor to the team by 2018.
The American business man is due to join the company next month and will work alongside current COO Jonathan Neale to shape the direction of the team. Brown will focus more on the commercial responsibilities while Neale's engineering background makes him better suited to the challenges the team faces on track.
McLaren has not had a title sponsor on its car since Vodafone left in 2013, with the team's former CEO Ron Dennis famously unwilling to budge on the team's rate card. Brown says the global economy has made sponsors hard to come by and admits that achieving his goal of a title sponsor by 2018 is not going to be easy.
"It's a difficult environment for all of us," he said on his first appearance with the team in Abu Dhabi. "Red Bull had a title sponsor, they don't now, it's themselves. Ferrari go about things a little bit differently and then obviously Mercedes has been fortunate enough to have a title partner for some time.
"I think there are some serious head winds out there in this world -- whether its Brexit or the US election -- and so it's a difficult environment. It's not an inexpensive sponsorship but it is great value and global, so when you break it down it's money very well spent.
"But I've not been on the inside, so I don't know how many near misses there have been and we've had a couple of close opportunities. So it's hard, it's very hard. By no means do I have a magic wand and think that having a title sponsor in 2018 is going to be an easy feat."
Asked what he could bring to McLaren to change the situation, Brown said the most important factor is to be flexible enough to give sponsors return on investment.
"I've got 22 years of experience of working with corporate partners, so I have got a very good understanding of what they want and how they operate and that is different today to how it was five, ten, 15, 20 years ago.
"Measurement is critical and return on investment is critical and then we have more competition among other sports and it's going to be about understanding the market place and being flexible to a potential partner's needs. So flexibility will be key."
Brown said he would look to bring new names into the sport but also said there is also the possibility of poaching sponsors from rival teams.
"I'm positive we are going to bring in new partners, we have for the last 22 years in motorsport and the last 12 in Formula One. I'd like to think the well hasn't run dry in our talent in doing that, but it's a competitive sport on and off the track so everyone at times talks to each other's sponsors and it's not unusual to see sponsors move. I don't think that will be any different moving forward."