Brown: I have to get 800 people rowing the same way quickly

Speaking to Sky in the wake of the latest development within the crisis-riddled team, Brown said, "The reason the car is not performing on the track is because we're not performing well as a team. What I see is we're too slow to react, we need to simplify things within the organisation and we need to operate like a race team."

"[McLaren need to be a much faster organisation, we're a bit too slow and a bit too clunky. That's not any one individual's fault, I know we have got great people here, so it's our ways of working that need to change."

"My job is to get all 700-800 people rowing the same way as quickly as possible, communicating well because it's those people that produce the race car. So we might have a race-car problem, but it's how we built the race car that's actually the real problem."

Boullier's tenure at the helm was questioned by media late last month, but the team and the Frenchman himself played down speculation.

Brown explained, "Eric has been here four years, he's contributed a lot to the team, he loves McLaren and ultimately he felt the best way for the team to move forward would be if he stepped down," said Brown.

"I met with him last night and we discussed it and ultimately accepted it. Wish him the best, he's a racer and I'm sure he'll end up in victory lane somewhere soon."

Brown suggested that Gil de Ferran replacing Boullier may be the first step in an overhaul of work methods at Woking, "It's just the start of the process, we're far from finished. We need to be a faster, more nimble organisation that communicates better because I think we've got great talent here, it's not just gelling like it needs to gel."

"I think we're in a good place now, we've got a good foundation and I want to build on that rather than continue to make changes. We will promote within and I'm sure we'll be bringing some external resources in as well."

McLaren fans, former team members and, reportedly, current staff are aggrieved at how their team has plummeted and that there is no light at the end of the tunnel at this stage.

Brown, an acknowledged marketing guru, understands well the negative impact their current on-track failings are having on the brand he leads, "We are frustrated - massively frustrated. I wish we could fix this overnight but it's going to take some time. So hang in there, we're not quitting. We're not quitters."

"The shareholders are fully behind us, we're investing where we need to invest and we're hopefully going to have better days ahead of us. We're going to have some bad weekends as well. I wouldn't expect miracles at Silverstone."

With regards to the new guard at the helm of the team going forward, starting this weekend at the British Grand Prix, Brown explained:

Andrea Stella, Performance director: "He is ultimately responsible for getting the most out of the race car at the race weekend."

Simon Roberts, Chief operating officer: "He will lead the technical team. He reports in to me and will be responsible for making sure we have a very fast race car."

Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "Gil will work with the racing team and the drivers to make sure we enhance the team's performance. I have always been a fan of racer's instinct so I feel he'll bring a fresh set of eyes."