McLaren F1 Unfazed by Sanchez Exit, Maintains Model

Andrea Stella confirms McLaren F1’s robust technical model persists despite David Sanchez’s departure.

Andrea Stella is pleased that McLaren F1 has successfully established its three-headed model in the technical department, and David Sanchez’s departure does not change that.

Indeed, the director of the Woking team confirms that the structure will remain the same, despite the engineer’s departure. The Frenchman is expected to lead the technical department of Alpine F1 (read more here).

“We all agree that the model itself is very valuable, we are very happy to have three directions: aerodynamics, engineering, and performance, it works very well,” explained Stella.

“However, when it comes to finding the technical setup, it is also necessary to ensure that it plays to the players’ strengths. We had discussions with David about this and we realized and recognized that his level of seniority, expertise, and skill is potentially even higher than the role he played at McLaren.”

The quick timeline with which Sanchez left McLaren was surprising, but Stella is not surprised: “Three months in normal industries is not long, but in Formula 1, it is. Waiting another three months can put you out of sync with some of the work for next year’s car or with the work you already need to do on the 2026 car.”

“And that’s true for David too, to give him fair chances elsewhere to take on more significant roles, three months can make a difference. So, we thought it was the right time and we amicably concluded that it was the right thing to do. And I really wish him the best for his future projects.”

Besides the arrival and departure of Sanchez, Stella is reassuring about his team’s recruitment capabilities, and he ensures that there are many new hires in Woking: “The news about David is part of the news.”

“The main news concerning McLaren is that we have an updated and evolved technical setup which, I think, places McLaren in an even stronger position than before. The new hires are not limited to a few senior executives, but we have actually added many people in the technical area at McLaren.”

“This is what we internally call the added power. What we have done in these first three months is find the right synthesis between the technical path we started last year and this added power.”