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Andrea Stella has just marked his one-year anniversary as McLaren’s F1 Team Principal, and in that time, he and his new-look Technical Team have left a sizeable mark. 

Andrea stepped up to the role on 13 December 2022 and since then, the team have produced arguably one of the greatest turnarounds of form in F1 history, which resulted in us ending the season as the second most consistent team on the grid. 

The 52-year-old Italian originally arrived at McLaren in 2015 as Head of Race Operations and has risen through the ranks, working as Performance Director from 2018, and as Executive Director, Racing, from 2019, before being promoted to Team Principal. 

For Zak Brown, Andrea was the obvious successor to Andreas Seidl when the German departed in December 2022, and the success of the team during his first season in the role has proven this to be a shrewd call. 

Our new-look Technical Team, and the many vital staff members below them, worked tirelessly to provide multiple key upgrades for the MCL60, which laid the foundations for long-term success and provided Lando and Oscar with a race car capable of consistently scoring podiums. 

“Andrea has done a fantastic job – he’s a tremendous leader,” said Zak Brown. “He’s a great communicator, he empowers the team, he listens, he gives great direction – I can’t say enough great things about him.

“The proof is in the pudding. Look at what he inherited at the start of the year, which was kind of the ninth-quickest car.

“We’ve been in the second half of the year kind of the second-, third-quickest car, [scoring] a pole, lots of podiums, so it’s credit to Andrea and everyone in the racing team. It’s a team effort, which is great to see.”

Lando has been delighted with the progress made over the last 12 months. He’s said on several occasions that this year has been his most competitive in F1 to date, with podiums scored on merit and a race win within touching distance.

The goal is to sustain and build on our form from 2023, keeping pace with the teams around us and continuing to fight at the front regularly.

These aims will be boosted by the arrivals of Rob Marshall from Red Bull and David Sanchez from Ferrari in the New Year. The pair were recruited by Zak and Andrea during the restructuring of our Technical Team and will bolster what has already proven to be a strong team.

Just like our ongoing company-wide upgrades, which include the new wind tunnel, next-generation simulator, composites facility, and machine shop, Rob and David’s impact won’t be fully realised until 2025, although they will have a part to play once the 2024 season gets underway.

“[I feel] exactly the same,” said Lando. “I did an interview the other day [in Abu Dhabi], and I just said big thanks to him… I think it's not everything just on him. You've got to thank a lot of other people in the team because they're the ones who have done a lot of the work.

“Andrea is just the director of it all. He's the producer of the set, and everyone else is the cast, but you need everyone to work together very well. That's what they're doing. So, he's done an amazing job. I'm very, very happy with having him where he is.

“He still does a lot for the team every single weekend in terms of racing and qualifying and all of that. But I can't ask for a better Team Principal.”