The first two races of this new Formula 1 season weren’t good for McLaren, which proved to be in trouble on several levels.
Today the team announced – on official channels – a change in personnel, with the creation of a Technical Executive Team made up of three new specialized Technical Director roles, reporting directly to Team Principal Andrea Stella.
McLaren has therefore decided to abandon the previous organization which provided for the presence of only one Executive Technical Director. James Key, who filled the role. Key will no longer be a member of the team, and therefore new profiles of great importance were named, such as Peter Prodromou, already in McLaren for some time, with 32 years of experience in Formula 1 behind him, who becomes Technical Director in aerodynamics.
The presence of David David Sanchez in the new technical team, who left Ferrari very recently, and who will be in charge of Car Concept and Performance, is definitely news. The other technical team member is Neil Houldey – engineering and design technical director – who has also been with the team for many years.
“I’m excited to be returning to the team in Woking and look forward to working alongside Peter and Neil and the rest of the team to achieve our performance objectives,” Sanchez stated.
“McLaren has always had an extremely talented group of people and alongside the new infrastructure upgrades coming online this year, we have an exciting prospect ahead that I’m delighted to be a part of.”
McLaren CEO Zak Brown commented like this on the new structural change:
“It has been clear to me for some time that our technical development has not moved at a quick enough pace to match our ambition of returning to the front of the grid.
“These strategic changes ensure the long-term success of the team and are necessary to see McLaren get back to winning ways. We have everything coming into place now with our people and infrastructure and alongside an exciting driver line-up, I’m determined to see McLaren get back to where we should be.”
And Andrea Stella added:
“This new structure provides clarity and effectiveness within the team’s technical department and puts us in a strong position to maximize performance, including optimizing the new infrastructure upgrades we have coming in 2023.
“I am determined and fully focused on leading McLaren back to the front of the field. Since taking on the Team Principal role I have been given the mandate to take a strategic approach to ensure the team is set on a long-term foundation, for us to build on over the years,” he concluded.
