McLaren wields axe in technical team shake-up after nightmare season start

McLaren has sacked technical director James Key and restructured its design office after a disappointing start to 2023.

The McLaren technical department under Key has struggled to adapt to life under the new regulations introduced last year.

It slipped from fourth to fifth in the 2022 constructors championship, and the team admitted during the pre-season it had missed development crucial targets for this year’s car.

McLaren is last in the title standings after failing to score points at the two opening rounds of the season. Both drivers retired with technical problems at the first race in Bahrain, and the car was slow in the race in Saudi Arabia, notwithstanding both drivers sustaining first-lap damage.

The team is pinning its 2023 hopes on a major upgrade due in April, but in recent days team principal Andrea Stella has moved to temper expectations of it bringing a significant step in performance.

“It has been clear to me for some time that our technical development has not moved at a quick enough pace to match our ambition of returning to the front of the grid,” CEO Zak Brown said in a statement.

“I’m pleased that, having completed a full review with Andrea, we are now able to implement the restructure required to set the wheels in motion to turn this around.”

Key’s technical director role will be split into three positions beneath Stella, with each responsible for a distinct part of the car’s development.

David Sanchez, who quit his job as Ferrari’s chief vehicle concept engineer earlier this year, has been confirmed as a new hire after a decade in Maranello. The Frenchman will start as technical director for car concept in January next year.

Peter Prodromou will be promoted to technical director for aerodynamics. Prodromou was an Adrian Newey protégé from Red Bull Racing’s title-winning years in 2010–13 before joining McLaren in 2014.

Neil Houldey will be promoted to technical director for engineering and design after more than 18 years with the team.

Aerodynamicist Giuseppe Pesce will take the role of aerodynamics director and chief of staff beneath Prodromou, while Piers Thynne is the team’s new chief operating officer supporting Stella “in the mission of innovating and elevating the standards” of the racing team.

“It’s important now that we ensure we have a solid foundation as the next phase of our journey,” Brown said.

“These strategic changes ensure the long-term success of the team and are necessary to see McLaren get back to winning ways.

“We have everything coming into place now with our people and infrastructure, and alongside an exciting driver line-up I’m determined to see McLaren get back to where we should be.”

The division of the crucial technical director role and the broader restructuring comes as the team prepares to bring online a new wind tunnel and simulator later this year as well as a new manufacturing facility.

McLaren has been using Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne, which is both logistically challenging and expensive. The German facility is also starting to show its age in an era several F1 teams have upgraded their own wind tunnels or are building new ones.

The current McLaren simulator is the first used in Formula 1 and was built around 20 years ago, making it badly outmoded.

Both infrastructure upgrades will be useful in the design of next year’s car but will be at full capacity for the 2025 campaign.

“This new structure provides clarity and effectiveness within the team’s technical department and puts us in a strong position to maximise performance, including optimising the new infrastructure upgrades we have coming in 2023,” team principal Stella said.

“Since taking on the team principal role I have been given the mandate to take a strategic approach to ensure the team is set on a long-term foundation, for us to build on over the years.

“Looking ahead, I am determined and fully focused on leading McLaren back to the front of the field.”

The ousted Key finds himself out of Formula 1 after 25 years in the sport, having first started work with the Jordan team in the late 1990s and rising to the position of technical director as the Silverstone squad transitioned to Force India.

He briefly took up the post of technical chief at Sauber before jumping to Toro Rosso in the same role in 2012 and then McLaren in 2019.

“I’d like to thank James for his hard work and commitment during his time at McLaren and wish him well for the future,” Stella said.