McLaren F1 boss confirms team principal REPLACEMENT in official statement

McLaren have released an official statement confirming a team principal replacement, with CEO Zak Brown issuing his excitement over the new appointment.

Brown and McLaren Formula 1 team principal Andrea Stella led the papaya outfit to the top of the constructors' standings in 2024 and the outfit will be hoping to go one better and do the double with a victory in the drivers' championship in 2025 as well.

McLaren have retained their stellar driver lineup of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the 2025 season, which is set to kick off at Piastri's home race in Melbourne on March 16.

The competitive driver duo will be looking to assert their dominance straight out of the blocks, not just to their rival constructors, but also to each other as the pair face a potentially tricky debate over the team's driver priority once again this season.

During last year's campaign, Piastri's maiden grand prix win was greatly overshadowed by a controversial team order call from McLaren where his team-mate Norris had been instructed to hand him the race lead which led to his first trip to the top step of the podium.

Following the incident, Brown and Stella both came under fire for their poor handling of driver priority, with the 'papaya rules' debate looking likely to spill over into the 2025 campaign.

Click here to shop the full 2025 papaya merch range following their championship success last season.

Zak Brown addresses Arrow McLaren replacement

With less than a month to go until the first grand prix of the year, Brown has issued a statement over the replacement of a team principal in another racing series, IndyCar.

Arrow McLaren secured three race wins in the US-based series in 2024, helping the team finish fifth in the standings, but back in November, it was announced that team principal Gavin Ward would be departing the team after two years in the role.

Now, as preparations ramp up ahead of the IndyCar season-opener in St. Petersburg, the racing outfit have confirmed that deputy team principal Tony Kanaan will be stepping into the role full-time having taken over the role after Ward's departure at the end of last season.

Brown said in an official press release: "I’m excited to welcome Kevin to Arrow McLaren and our leadership group. Kevin and I have stayed close since our days together at JMI, and he’s the right fit to set the team up for long-term success.

"A few months ago, I said if we can find extra horsepower to add to the team, we’ll add it, and Kevin is the perfect example of that.

"Under Tony’s leadership, the team has been moving forward quickly, and he and Kevin will work well together to keep that positive momentum up. Our sights are set on how we stabilise and grow strategically while competing at the top."

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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