How Stela converted McLaren into a major force of F1

From outside, as the tenure of Andrea Stella McLaren The team boss looks very straightforward.

After taking over from Andreas Cydle before the 2023 season, Italian did a technical restructuring, which converted the team into a regular podium finisher in the second part of the Red Bull-Dominated campaign, and then in May 2024, the next major step was seen that it had become the most consistently competing team of F1. In 2024, after the crown of the first constructive, and the back-to-back title is now guaranteed by all, but the papaya squad has claimed 11 of the 14 Grands Prix of this season.

This is not an overstatement, then, to call Stella – reliable by CEO Zak Brown – architects of the Renaissance of McLaren. Obviously, McLaren’s trajectory since December 2022 was not as straightforward as it was seen out, and Stella had to make a difficult decision. But the 54 -year -old Italian team never had to demand credit for the success.

“Well, first of all, I came on the ship, but I never led alone,” he said he was sitting for a chat with Autosport in Hungary Grand Prix. “Zak and I, we are always very working, are very connected, and then we have created a group of leaders around us with which we are very united.

“There is nothing in this business that you do alone, even when it comes to difficult decisions or the team analyzes how you should improve it. Where are the areas that should be consolidated and if whatever, then strengthen?

“It has always been teamwork, obviously, it’s not a very broad team, but Zak and I are very well supported by analysis and technical point of view of people.”

‘People who do not have collaborative features are not just on the table’

The first order of Stella’s action was to implement a three-dimensional structure with various technical directors for each major demonstration column, which was further refined in April and May after the departure of David Sanchez.

Neil Holde became the technical director of the engineering team, in which Mark Temple was promoted to the performance TD and Peter Products reached the top with aerodi. Those changes freed the key Red Bull Capture Rob Marshal to focus on their role as the chief designer.

Marshall and Products are two good examples that Stela felt that McLaren needs to go back to the top: identifying and hiring the key manufacturers from his rivals in the case of Marshall, while to empower some of the best current engineering brains of McLaren, which were probably on the previous, more vertical structures, or decreased. That flatter structure requires the ability to decide as a purchase in and a collective for its leaders.

Stela said, “The first step was to see the team with a map, and understand what is the world championship material and what is not.” “But also, to identify who are the prominent leaders who would have to lead their own areas. And the final bit was believing in a model based on cooperation.

“I still remember when we announced that we are going from one to three technical directors, there were a lot of questions about who decides. For me, who decide, have never had any problem, because my common way to see things is so ally that those who do not have such features are not just on the table.

“The decision is usually an important mass of accumulated information rather than being a dictator, which will take a decision at some level. Zak and I believed that it is possible. And since then we have added Rob Marshal, which is then a fourth TD, and has not changed dynamics.

“But cultural foundation and behavioral characteristics should never be low, otherwise this model starts suffering. Therefore, it requires a lot of appearance, much understanding of what is happening in business to protect this method of working.

“This is a human conversation that we give real meaning to what we achieve.”

Despite their humility, a lot of Stella can be proud of the last two and a half sessions. Asked what is the most satisfactory aspect of the major McLaren for the world title, he said “he could give 1000 different answers and all of them would be valid”, but finally he landed in the way he is able to make every part of his journey 1000+ teams.

“Certainly, contributing to bringing a championship for McLaren has been one of the main attractions,” he said. “Not only the McLaren Formula 1 team’s legacy, which is clearly heavy how iconic and satisfying it can be, but I also think of 1000 people and the way it is observed.

“I have won many championships (in) FerrariAs a demonstration engineer), but everyone was just so happy for this, because I think everyone felt: ‘This is something that I have done myself, this is something that I have earned, this is something that I contributed, I grew up with the team.’

“So for me, helping everyone in McLaren has such a feeling and a feeling of continuous progress that I find the most satisfactory.

“There is almost more satisfaction in the journey than achievement. Finally, it is a human conversation that gives real meaning and understanding what we achieve.”