2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[Ben1980]

I don't like that the position of technical director was divided into three people. There should be one responsible person.

But having one hasn't worked, so try something different.

[Lucky]

I don't like that the position of technical director was divided into three people. There should be one responsible person.

But having one hasn't worked, so try something different.

Maybe the problem was in the person himself, not the structure?

[Slahinki]

Yeah, mixed feelings about this. Hopefully it shakes out well, but only time will tell.

[the EDGE]

I seem to remember Mercedes hiring multiple technical directors when they returned to F1, certainly didn’t do them any harm

[Ground Effect]

Not sure about this, to be honest. I think they should have taken time to recruit an Engineering Director from outside.

[Ground Effect]

Peter Prodromou survives again!! It’s crazy when you consider McLaren have been struggling with aero for a while now.

[Emag]

Well to be honest, apart from 2021, James Key has been disappointing.

And I wouldn't even credit 2021 to him because that car was basically the ultimate evolution of the concept started by Pat Fry in 2019.

He had his chance with a clean sheet in 2022 and oh boy was the car underwhelming last year. Fast forward to now, and they have seemingly gone even further backwards.

I understand the situation is a bit more complex than that, but the reality is that they have gone backwards as they are the 6th fastest car at best for the time being.

Decision to sack him does not seem unexpected at all.

[Lucky]

Peter Prodromou survives again!! It’s crazy when you consider McLaren have been struggling with aero for a while now.

We don't know who made the decision on the concept of cars, in theory it should have been done by td

[f1rules]

HA i said it in here for a long time, that not all was good with Key, he was missing from Key moments etc, and i said if sanchez joins he will leave, but many in here nono, quess what Key is now gone as i predicted, and thank god for that, always caught of guard, always surprised, always with excuses. He didnt bring the team forward one bit and failed in ironing out shortcommings in car concept there has been there for years

[Xero]

I do feel this is the correct decision. Change was needed after being stuck in a bit of a rut the last couple of seasons, with fresh ideas and mentalities needed to move things forward. They could have waited until the end of the season, but it's important to have this structure in place for next year's car development with the new wind tunnel and new simulator. Splitting the roles looks like a big change on the surface, but I don't think it changes much beneath. Gives Prodromou a bit more freedom and influence on car direction, which is a good thing in my eyes.

[f1rules]

Exactly

Well to be honest, apart from 2021, James Key has been disappointing.

And I wouldn't even credit 2021 to him because that car was basically the ultimate evolution of the concept started by Pat Fry in 2019.

He had his chance with a clean sheet in 2022 and oh boy was the car underwhelming last year. Fast forward to now, and they have seemingly gone even further backwards.

I understand the situation is a bit more complex than that, but the reality is that they have gone backwards as they are the 6th fastest car at best for the time being.

Decision to sack him does not seem unexpected at all.

[Szabi1112]

It was high time to see something changes as a consequences of the previous 2 years.

[mwillems]

Seems to be quite a key development for next year

[Mansell89]

Firstly- tough news on James Key. I’m so sorry that this hasn’t worked out. He’s clearly a super smart, intelligent guy. Sometimes certain talents don’t gel with certain teams- I’ve no doubt he will go on and do some significant things in F1. Maybe at Audi- who knows.

Completely understand the decision. I said immediately in this thread at team launch- his absence was conspicuous given the comments about late development and then after they said the upgrade in Baku is only good enough for 5th best team, the writing was on the wall.

I’m very intrigued to see Peter Prodromou given added responsibility and seemingly free reign on the Aero- certainly until Sanchez joins in 2024 and therefore I’m super excited to see what direction he takes us in for later season upgrades.

That all said- this very much tells us 2025 is the earliest Championship challenge, so it’s gonna take time for all this to bed in.

Oscar will stay for the long haul- let’s see if anyone sniffs around Lando if we see any movement at RBR, Merc, Ferrari or even Aston.

[mwillems]

I'm not sure if this is the correct decision or not, not sure anyone can as we are on the outside. But I hope it is the correct decision and that going forward we do see an improvement.

I suppose that with the error that caused the team to not deliver the 23 car until Baku, it might have been obvious what the oversight was and where the responsibility sits, same with errors from last year. I guess Stella probably had these thoughts for some time and upon promotion was able to make the changes he wants.

The only thing that concerns me is how that overlap between the three Directors will work, it has hints of matrix management to it and I wonder how they will coherently agree on a path.
Or is it that David Sanchez will agree what he thinks the concept should look like and where the team can find the most time and then PP and NH can work to deliver that vision in the concept that Sanchez delivered? It's an odd one because Sanchez appears to fulfill the old role of TD of working out the right concept without the decision making ability of how it comes together, which now sits with Stella, who will manage the 2 guys that deliver the concept to the track. Stella is now the TD in terms of decisions but not in terms of output.

I hope he knows what he is doing!

Best of luck, I hope it works, but I understand people's concern about how this can be a success.