McLaren’s F1 strategy secrets revealed

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has divulged the secrets to his team’s success, from the complexion of their squad to a coup from a rival F1 team.

The Woking-based outfit have completely turned their fortunes around in recent seasons, thanks in part to Stella and Zak Brown, but also because of a key signing from Red Bull in Rob Marshall.

Marshall, who was Red Bull’s chief engineering officer, was credited by Stella as a key difference maker at the team who has helped propel their team forwards alongside McLaren’s engineers.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, Stella also revealed the team’s secret strategy and how he has installed the right people for championship success.

"The first step was to look at the team with a map, and understand what is world championship material and what is not. But also, to identify who are the key leaders that will have to lead their own areas. And the final bit was believing in a model based on collaboration," Stella said.

"I still remember when we announced that we were going from one to three technical directors, there were so many questions about who makes the decisions. For me, who makes the decisions has never been a problem, because my normal way of looking at things is so collaborative that who doesn't have those kinds of attributes is just not, simply, at the table in the first place."

Stella credits McLaren team for F1 progress

McLaren spent the best part of a decade in F1 purgatory, unable to burst through as a championship contender as they languished in the midfield.

Concerns only heightened when in March 2023, McLaren emerged from the first two races without a single point, with new team principal Stella – who arrived at the team in the winter – making key decisions in their technical department as a result.

By the Austrian Grand Prix, an update package came McLaren’s way and the team have been on an upwards trajectory ever since, where they look to win their first drivers’ title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008 at the end of this year.

"Decisions normally tend to be just a critical mass of information accumulated, rather than having a dictator that at some stage will make a decision. Zak and I believed that this is possible. And since then we have added Rob Marshall, which is then a fourth TD, and the dynamics have not changed," Stella continued when detailing the secrets behind the papaya outfit's turn around in form.

"But the cultural foundation and behavioural attributes should never degrade, otherwise this model starts to suffer. So, it requires a lot of presence, a lot of understanding of what's going on in the business to protect this way of working.

"It's the human interactions that give real meaning to what we achieve."

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