McLaren boss Zak Brown believes promoting from within means it “won’t miss a beat” compared to if it recruited a new Team Principal from outside of the company.
Andreas Seidl relinquished his role as McLaren’s Formula 1 Team Principal in order to take up a position as the CEO of Sauber.
McLaren released Seidl from his contract three years early in order for the German to make the move.
McLaren swiftly acted by appointing Andrea Stella as its new Team Principal.
Stella has held senior roles with McLaren since joining the team from Ferrari in 2015, and most recently occupied the position of Executive Director, Racing.
“The response I’ve had from the racing team about Andrea’s appointment has been predictably very well received,” said Brown.
“And I think as we try and build a team to get back to competing for the world championships it has to be a team effort, and this feels like we won’t miss a beat versus introducing someone from the outside because it takes quite a way to get up to speed.
“If we didn’t have Andrea that maybe would have been an alternative to look at, but it was very clear to us very quickly that Andrea was who we wanted to have run the team.”
“I think any team or business for that matter, it’s about the collection of individuals and the ways of working. Andreas did a great job but I have no doubt Andrea will pick up from today and carry us forward.”
Brown outlined that McLaren never considered an external replacement once it was clear that Seidl was to leave the team.
“Andrea was always our number one choice to lead the team moving forward,” said Brown.
“That all came together quite rapidly and here we are with Andrea now as our Team Principal, which myself, our drivers, our team is extremely excited about.
“Andrea obviously has a wealth of experience, not only with McLaren, but a rich history with Ferrari, so is someone who knew the team inside-out.
“He is a very hands-on person in the racing team, which was of high interest to me and the shareholders. We wanted to have someone leading the team who would get their hands dirty, so to speak. We’re very excited.”
After six years, going on seven, this once-hailed “business guru” still hasn’t found a real title sponsor or a works engine partner for McLaren, and has lost a laundry list of amazing talent to other teams since he first started with the organization. Ron Dennis was right almost a decade ago when the McLaren-Honda partnership was announced — without a works engine partner, McLaren or any other team will not win a world title (aside from an occasional freak once-in-a-lifetime Brawn-type win).