McLaren: Early F1 team principal silly season 'puts everyone in their permanent homes'

McLaren boss Zak Brown recently explained how the new team principal was appointed as the silly season for F1 team principals snowballed. Though many would think that Mattia Binotto leaving Ferrari started the chain of events, talks about a possible change were ongoing long before the end of the season.

Speaking to the media, Zak Brown explained how he was approached by Finn Rausing, Sauber Holding AG Chairman of the Board of Directors, regarding the possibility of moving Andreas Seidl to Alfa Romeo. McLaren's boss believes that the sooner team principals are transferred to their new teams, the better.

Zak Brown said:

"My reaction was, if Andrea would be happy to join as Team Principal, then I'd be very happy to make that change now, which I think puts everyone in their permanent homes for the foreseeable future."

McLaren's CEO explained how Andreas Seidl, the British team's former team principal, transparently declared that he was about to leave the British outfit and go elsewhere after his contract ends in 2025. This was respected by Zak Brown as talks started happening about appointing a new head of the team.

Zak Brown explained:

"Andreas – who did an excellent job here at McLaren for the last handful of seasons – in a very transparent manner, informed me during the season that he was going to go elsewhere when his contract was up at the end of 2025."

Finally, Zak Brown explained how he spoke to Andrea Stella and discussed his promotion to becoming the team principal. This was prior to anyone knowing that Andreas Seidl was about to leave the team. Andrea Stella graciously accepted the position, which secured McLaren's situation.

Brown explained:

"So I went about having a conversation with Andrea, pre him having any awareness that Andreas was going to move on for the '26 season. After some good conversations, Andrea kindly accepted the role, which then put us in a very comfortable position to move forward, because Andrea was always our number one choice to lead the team moving forward, so that all came together quite rapidly."

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Andrea Stella explains 'hands-on' working style as McLaren's new team principal

McLaren announced Andrea Stella to be their new team principal. Speaking to the media, Stella explained his work ethic and how he will be managing the British outfit. He said:

"I think my style will be a hands-on type of Team Principal. I think the opportunity that we have is that I've have been dealing with and exposed to the engineering and racing elements of Formula 1 throughout my career."

Andrea Stella is one of the most successful engineers in the sport. He started his career at Ferrari as a race engineer for the likes of Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, and even Fernando Alonso. Since all these drivers have won several titles with the Maranello-based team, it shows how brilliant Andrea Stella has been during his career.