After a disappointing start to the 2023 season, McLaren has announced a number of changes within its Formula One team.
The most notable of changes is that Executive Technical Director, James Key, has left the team after the role was changed from a singular position to a team.
Peter Prodromou has moved into the role of Technical Director in the Aerodynamics department. He has been involved in Formula One for 32 years and has been involved in World Championship wins.
David Sanchez returns to the team as Techincal Director of Car Concept and Performance. He previously spent a decade at Ferrari and will join the team on January 1st 2024.
Neil Houldey, who was already with McLaren has been promoted to the new role of Techincal Director of Engineering and Design.
Giuseppe Pesce is promoted to the role of Director of Aerodynamics and Chief of Staff.
Pieres Thynee also moves into an expanded role of Chief Operating Officer for the F1 team.
Andrea Stella, Team Principal said:
“Firstly, I’d like to thank James for his hard work and commitment during his time at McLaren and wish him well for the future.
“Looking ahead, I am determined and fully focused on leading McLaren back to the front of the field. Since taking on the Team Principal role I have been given the mandate to take a strategic approach to ensure the team is set on a long-term foundation, for us to build on over the years.
“This new structure provides clarity and effectiveness within the team’s technical department and puts us in a strong position to maximise performance, including optimising the new infrastructure upgrades we have coming in 2023.
“Alongside Peter and Neil, I’m delighted to welcome David Sanchez back to the team to complete an experienced and highly specialised Technical Executive team, with the collective aim of delivering greater on-track car performance.
“I’m looking forward to continuing working together with Piers, who will play a fundamental role to define and deliver the plans to create an innovative and effective F1 team.”
Zak Brown, CEO, said:
“It’s important now that we ensure we have a solid foundation as the next phase of our journey. It has been clear to me for some time that our technical development has not moved at a quick enough pace to match our ambition of returning to the front of the grid. I’m pleased that, having completed a full review with Andrea, we are now able to implement the restructure required to set the wheels in motion to turn this around. These strategic changes ensure the long-term success of the team and are necessary to see McLaren get back to winning ways. We have everything coming into place now with our people and infrastructure and alongside an exciting driver line-up, I’m determined to see McLaren get back to where we should be.”
David Sanchez commented:
“I’m excited to be returning to the team in Woking and look forward to working alongside Peter and Neil and the rest of the team to achieve our performance objectives. McLaren has always had an extremely talented group of people and alongside the new infrastructure upgrades coming online this year, we have an exciting prospect ahead that I’m delighted to be a part of.”