McLaren announces reshuffling and departure of James Key

McLaren Racing has announced a number of organizational reshuffles in the Formula 1 team and the departure of technical director James Key.

The team declined the position of technical director. Instead, a new Technical Executive Group of three specialists has been created, among whom the duties of the Technical Director will be divided and they will report directly to the head of the team, Andrea Stella.

The Technical Executive Group included Peter Prodromou, who was given the position of Technical Director Aerodynamics. David Sanchez returns from Ferrari to McLaren to become technical director for concept and development of the car. Sanchez will begin work on January 1, 2024.

The third member of the Technical Executive Group was Neil Holdy, who was appointed to the newly created position of Technical Director for machine development.

Giuseppe Pesce has been appointed as the new head of the aerodynamics department. He will report to Peter Prodrom.

In addition to these appointments, the powers of COO Piers Tinn will be expanded. He will support the team leader in matters related to innovation and raising the bar at McLaren.

The reorganization has been underway for several months before McLaren’s main infrastructure projects go online in 2023. In addition, the team is constantly hiring new technical staff, with some agreements already made.

McLaren believes that the reorganization that has been carried out will strengthen the team and provide a successful future.

Andrew StellaTeam Principal: “First of all I would like to thank James for his hard work and dedication to McLaren and wish him all the best for the future.

When we talk about plans, I am determined and totally focused on how we can take McLaren back to the top. After accepting the position of team leader, I was given the mandate to build a solid foundation with a strategic approach from which the team can develop over the years.

The new structure keeps the engineering department simple and efficient, allowing them to focus on maximizing productivity, including an updated infrastructure that we will launch in 2023.

Along with Peter and Neil, I welcome the return of David Sanchez, who will complete our experienced team of engineers and help us achieve our shared goal of building a great race car.

I look forward to continuing to work with Pearce, who will play a fundamental role in defining and implementing plans to build an innovative and efficient Formula 1 team.”

Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing: “Now it is important to lay a solid foundation for the next phase of our development. It has been clear to me for some time that our technical progress is not fast enough to achieve the ambitious goals of returning to the top of Formula 1.

I am pleased that after Andrea and I have fully assessed the situation, the team will be able to make the restructuring necessary to change things. The strategic change will ensure the team’s long-term success and is essential to getting McLaren back on track.

Now we have brought together specialists, infrastructure and an exciting line-up of pilots. I am determined to see McLaren back to where we need to be.”

David Sanchez: “I am excited to be back in Woking and look forward to working with Peter, Neil and all the team to achieve our shared goals. McLaren have always had extremely talented people and with the new infrastructure being launched this year we have a great opportunity ahead of us and I am delighted to be part of the project.”