Zak Brown, McLaren CEO claimed new team principal Andrea Stella was always his number one choice to replace Andreas Seidl at the helm of the racing team.
After a busy day where Formula 1 bosses went on a game of musical chairs, McLaren announced their Executive Director Andrea Stella will become team principal replacing Sauber-bound Andreas Seidl, who replaced Frederic Vasseur at Hinwil, the latter going on to Ferrari to replace Mattia Binotto.
Speaking in a media session along with Stella, Zak Brown revealed Seidl has already informed him that he would be moving on once his contract expired in 2025.
“[Andreas] informed me during the season that he was going to go elsewhere when his contract was up at the end of 2025,” he said. “[It was] probably pretty clear where that destination would be, which was quite understandable, given his background.
“At that time, we intended to continue for the foreseeable future, because the relationship is very, very healthy. And his work discipline is very strong.
“What we were going to do at that point was, at the end of the season, let the world know that that change would come in at the end of the ’25 season.
“And, after we intended to go public, the first person I was going to call to see if they would lead McLaren’s F1 team is the gentleman sitting next to me, Andrea [Stella] – but not at that point, being sure whether that would be something that he would consider,” Brown explained.
Binotto and Vasseur moves meant McLaren had to fast track matters
However the domino effect started by Binotto’s resignation from Ferrari meant matters at McLaren were fast tracked, Brown shedding light on the details.
He revealed: “When it became clear that Fred was going to go to Ferrari, [Sauber owner] Finn Rausing, who is someone that I’ve known for a decade, and get along with very well, gave me a call to see if there was a discussion to be had to potentially release Andreas early.
“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,” he added.
“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, that all came together quite rapidly.”
Brown insisted he wasn’t going to impose a gardening leave on Seidl; he said: “We have a great relationship. I know a lot of teams play the gardening leave card.
“But I think, as we’ve demonstrated at McLaren, there are ways to dissolve relationships, whether that’s with racing drivers, or employees, where you can do things on very workable terms for everyone,” he concluded.
As such McLaren will enter the 2023 season with a new boss, Stella, and a revised driver lineup, as Oscar Piastri replaced compatriot Daniel Ricciardo alongside Lando Norris.
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