McLaren's record £588m year ends in a loss as Zak Brown's pay soars

The results filed with the UK's Companies House show turnover of £588.5m, up from £488.9m a year earlier. That is a rise of £99.6m, or just over 20 per cent, in 12 months.

McLaren said the increase came mainly from more commercial activity and a strong season on track. Lando Norris won the drivers' championship in 2025 and the team topped the constructors' standings again.

The trouble starts below the revenue line. The figure for cost of sales rose to £534.3m in 2025, up from £375.0m in 2024. That left a gross profit of £54.1m, less than half of the previous year's £113.4m.

After £129.7m in expenses and some extra income, McLaren posted a loss of £42.8m. A year earlier the team made a profit of £48.5m. Once interest and tax were applied, the bottom-line loss came to £17.4m, compared with a £53.8m profit in 2024.

One reason for the loss was that McLaren repaid loans linked to the cash investment it took on during COVID, when the team came close to going under. McLaren still has net assets of £45.9m, down from £60.2m.

Headcount kept growing in the meantime as reports show that the company employed 1,246 people in 2025, up from 1,123.

The accounts also put a number on what the CEO earned. They show that the highest-paid director, believed to be Brown, received a base salary of £8.215m, up from £6.126m in 2024.

On top of that, the accounts list long-term incentive payments of £73.682m, up from £31.077m the year before. That total makes Brown one of the highest-paid executives in all of sport. A week before the filing, Sky News had estimated his package at more than £75.4m ($100m).

It has been reported that money came from a share award triggered when McLaren's Middle Eastern owners bought the remaining 30 per cent held by outside investors. That makes the 2025 figure a reflection of the ownership deal more than of an ordinary annual salary.

Based on those figures, Brown's 2025 earnings were more than Norris and Oscar Piastri earn combined.

The loss does not change the bigger commercial picture. Sky News reported that McLaren is on course to become the first F1 team to reach $1bn in annual revenue in 2026.

So McLaren's best year on track in decades was also its biggest year for revenue. The 2025 accounts show how much of that money went on costs, loan repayments and the payout that followed the ownership change.