McLaren issue "total responsibility" Stella demand

Sam Hall
Tuesday 20 December 2022 18:05

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has revealed his expectations of new team principal Andreas Seidl following the recent management shake-up.

In an astonishing 24 hours in early December, three F1 team principals left their positions.

Jost Capito's Williams exit was a damning reflection on the team's results, while Fred Vasseur's departure from Alfa Romeo to Ferrari to replace Mattia Binotto, who had announced his resignation at the end of November, was hardly a surprise.

It was Andreas Seidl's move to leave McLaren and take over as Sauber CEO that provided the biggest shock.

Unlike its rivals, McLaren elected to promote from within as executive director Stella was confirmed as Seidl's successor.

"From our standpoint, what I am looking for from Andrea is total responsibility for the performance of the Formula 1 team," said Brown.

"All these teams [that made changes], some are structured similarly, some are different.

"It is a team effort so I will continue to do what I think I do best which is commercial, marketing, bringing in the best people and giving them the resources and direction to let them do their job to the best of their ability.

"Ultimately, Andrea's responsibility is the performance of the Formula 1 team."

Asked why he believes there was such a significant turnover in team principals in such a short period of time, Brown added: "It was an exciting day with 40 percent of the grid changing.

"F1 is a very fast-paced, performance-driven business so all I can speak to is McLaren's situation.

"I don't have enough visibility to know about Ferrari. That team did a good job this year, they were very competitive, while Jost obviously had challenges [at Williams]."