McLaren reshuffle management for 2020 season

Jamie Woodhouse
McLaren complete management reshuffle ahead of 2020 season.

McLaren complete management reshuffle ahead of 2020 season.

Andrea Stella has been promoted to McLaren Formula 1 racing director as part of team principal Andreas Seidl’s management reshuffle ahead of the 2020 season.

Stella had been working as the team’s performance director, but in his new role he will now be head of all trackside operations and engineering, as well as race strategy.

The changes are now complete and form a three-pronged management structure with Stella working alongside technical director James Key and production director Piers Tynne, with the team hoping this will further enhance their on-track fortunes after finishing P4 in the Constructors’ last season.

Speaking about the changes, as quoted by Crash.net, Seidl said: “I have a very strong line-up of people reporting into me, with James Key as technical director, Piers Thynne as production director and Andrea Stella as racing director.

“I have full trust in them and their teams in everything they do and therefore they have my full backing.

“It is crucial to empower people, to encourage them to make decisions, to allow them to take risks and to back them up if it goes wrong because I accept that mistakes can happen.

“That’s the only way to get better and to improve as a team.”

As well as securing their best finish in the Constructors’ since 2012, Carlos Sainz gave the team their first podium since 2014 with P3 at the 2019 Brazilian GP, but Seidl is clear that improvements can still be made.

“Our aim is to become the best in this sport again in the future and we know that we are far away from this right now,” he admitted.

“We won’t get carried away with the good season we’ve just had; we’ll stay humble and continue to respect our competitors.

“We are aware of our weaknesses and will continue working hard with the plan we have in place in order to improve. We are on a journey and you can feel great momentum in the team.

“Our one team approach and the commitment we have from the shareholders means I’m optimistic that we can be successful again, but you need to be realistic about what’s achievable year-by-year.”

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