Brown drops F1 role change hint after Seidl exit

Ewan Gale
Saturday 17 December 2022 10:00

Zak Brown has hinted at becoming more involved with McLaren's F1 operation to assist new team principal Andrea Stella.

The Italian has made his first step into such a role after previously holding the position of executive director racing for the Woking-based marque.

Stella's rise has been fast-tracked from a prospective 2026 promotion after Andreas Seidl made a shock switch to Sauber, becoming the Swiss team's CEO.

The Brown-Seidl pivot saw the German in complete control of the F1 activities, with the American instead focusing on the wider organisation, specifically the commercial and financial aspects of McLaren.

But insisting there will be no major upheaval in the wake of Seidl's departure, CEO Brown said: "I don't think there will be a tremendous amount of change.

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"I will certainly lean in more where Andrea would like my support.

"Obviously, in the TP role, there is the sporting side, the commercial side, the media etcetera.

"I think we will find good ways of working and I would say we have not gone from three people to two people, we have gone from 850 people to 849 people.

"Therefore, it is quite a large organisation where I think there is a tremendous amount of talent in the team and these are opportunities for everybody to step up.

"So I think it will be very comfortable between Andrea and myself, and any modifications he may make, we have got it well covered."