Stella: After you solve one problem, you have to deal with the next

Andrea Stella moved from Ferrari, where he worked for 15 years, and was race engineer for Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and then Fernando Alonso. But in 2015 he joined the team from Woking as lead race engineer and in January 2020 became race director.

He took over from Andreas Seidl as team principal last December and has lived up to the trust placed in him over the course of this season. In an interview with the McLaren press office, Stella commented on the results of the first half of the championship and spoke about the challenges the team now faces.

Q: The difficult start to the season came as no surprise to the team: how do you think it handled these difficulties?
Andrew Stella: We really expected the start of the season to be tough. First of all, we asked everyone to keep calm and not to express emotions. It was necessary to keep calm and try to increase the efficiency of the machine by working with technical innovations.

In the beginning, we got a good understanding of the tasks we faced. It was necessary to analyze all information received, dispose of it properly, and establish an effective process for preparing and producing updates. We understood that if we deal with this, the growth of the results will begin.

I must say I was very impressed with how the team handled that situation. The team worked steadily and focused, Zack Brown and I were very pleased. But in Formula 1 you can’t relax, and after solving one problem you have to tackle the next straight away.

Question: You constantly talk about the need to modernize the machine faster than the competition. What innovations have already been introduced and how effective have they been?
Andrew Stella: In general, the updates concerned the aerodynamic body kit of the car, and in this regard, I would say that we have practically prepared the second version of the MCL60. This necessitated some revision of the layout of what is under the body panels of the machine, as much had to be adapted to the new shapes.

Ultimately, Formula 1 will be a constant race of upgrades, so this phase will soon be followed by new chassis development measures planned for this season, but at the same time we are working on the creation of a car for next year.

The novelties introduced in this first phase met the expectations attached to them. At meetings within the team, we always say: “By the end of the season we would like to compete with cars that have been faster than us so far.” Halfway through the season we already managed to climb the podium twice, and also take 2nd place in the sprint, and precisely because of our own speed.

Question: What novelties can be expected in the second part of the season?
Andrew Stella: The next batch of updates will be a further development of everything introduced in previous races. Since there is still an opportunity to move forward, we will try to do it. As we develop these new products we are already seeing some encouraging signs, but as always they will be really track tested.

In addition, during the days of the Belgian weekend, some of our weaknesses have come to light, and they must be addressed individually. We haven’t worked too hard yet with a low drag machine configuration and in Spa we lacked efficiency and top speed.

We want to pay urgent attention to this, and at the same time see if we can solve some tasks related to the preparation for the stage in Monza. All this happens in parallel with the general refinement of the chassis, which will contribute to the tracks of all kinds.

There is also a process of restructuring the team’s technical leadership, because in 2024 David Sanchez from Ferrari will join us, and Rob Marshall from Red Bull. Although not involved in the work, the Corps of Engineers is led by Piers Tinn, Peter Prodromu and Neil Holdy.

Our design department is a very mature team, made up of excellent specialists, and I am very pleased with the quality of their work, although they all have to work under constant pressure and time constraints.

This division is led by Neil Holdy and Mark Inham, who have unique experience, and it is this division of the team that will be strengthened with the arrival of Rob Marshall. The Department of Efficiency and Advanced Development was also recently established and will be headed by David Sanchez.

But the bottom line is that in all divisions of the team, all employees are working increasingly productively and are striving to contribute to the further transformation of McLaren. We have already shown what the team is capable of, but there is no reason to relax – on the contrary, all this only adds to the determination to achieve the success that McLaren deserves.