McLaren Formula 1 boss Andrea Stella has credited the team’s restructuring of its aerodynamic department as the “fundamental enabler” of its mid-season turnaround in 2023.
Following the departure of Andreas Seidl at the end of 2022, Stella’s promotion coincided with McLaren’s concession it was “not entirely happy” with its launch-spec MCL60.
That proved to be the case in the early stages of the campaign, although Stella was confident McLaren would take a marked step in performance as the year progressed.
The Austrian Grand Prix in July yielded the initial integration of upgrades that would dramatically transform the Woking-based side into a regular podium-running contender.
In March, Stella announced a major reorganisation of McLaren’s technical structure by creating three separate pillars in a bid to streamline the team’s return to F1 glory.
The Italian, formerly of Ferrari, believes it is this “essential” reshuffle that helped provide his staff the “clarity” needed to unveil the season-salvaging upgrade package and raise the team to fourth in the standings ahead of a fast-starting Aston Martin.
“The technical restructuring was a fundamental enabler,” Stella told Motorsport.com. “The restructuring itself includes people that actually haven’t started yet,” he said referring to the upcoming arrival of personnel poached from rival teams.
“If we talk about the new technical configuration, which includes three technical directors, two of them haven’t started yet.
“It was Peter Prodromou in charge of aero, David Sanchez in charge of performance and concepts, Rob Marshall in charge of engineering and design.
“Effectively, this structure has given clarity on the responsibilities and has allowed also – and it was essential in the short term – to restructure the aerodynamic department, putting Peter Prodromou in charge, supporting Giuseppe Pesce, these guys have been absolutely instrumental in setting the new direction for the design of the car from an aerodynamic point of view.”
Marshall and Sanchez will join McLaren in January, having made the switch from Red Bull and Ferrari respectively once their periods of enforced gardening leave conclude.
While excited to see his new hires get to work in January, Stella was also keen to stress the importance of his incumbent crop of staff in Woking, and the team’s new wind tunnel, in powering the side to nine podiums in 2023.
“This has been the enabler to use the talent that was already available at McLaren, because the people that physically design the geometries are the same people,” he continued.
“But unleashing their talent by giving clear direction, making clear objectives, and also trying to make sure that empowerment and enthusiasm are the foundation of how we deal with people. This has been instrumental. And that’s also how we are trying to get into the future.”
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