McLaren Racing has been undergoing a significant leadership shake-up over the past few months. Team principal Andrea Stella has been reviewing the leadership structure at Woking, which led to the hiring of Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran as a non-executive advisor and the ousting of technical director James Key.
McLaren has recruited Rob Marshall from Red Bull Racing, who will join as Technical Director, Engineering & Design.
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 30, 2023
Tap the link for more. ⬇️
The latest coup for McLaren's heavily reworked technical division is the hiring of Rob Marshall. Marshall is the current chief engineering officer at Red Bull and has been with the team for 17 years. He will leave the team at the end of the 2023 season but will step back from his current role with immediate effect.
Marshall is a former Renault designer who is best known for developing the team's innovative damping system, which contributed to the team's 2005 and 2006 World Constructors' Championships. Before taking on a broader role as Chief Engineering Officer, he was Chief Designer at Red Bull during its championship winning years from 2010 to 2013.
Marshall's appointment is seen as a natural fit to aid McLaren's journey to get back to winning ways. Stella said, "With over 25 years working in motorsport, Rob comes to us with a wealth of expertise and experience, elevated by his tenure and track record at Red Bull Racing."
Stella added that they are "a team with the ambition of fighting for championships, but over the last couple of seasons we have not shown a steady upward trend from an on-track competitiveness point of view. Over the last few months, we have worked towards inverting this trend."
McLaren's senior technical overhaul is now complete with the appointment of Marshall and Neil Houldey, who will report to Marshall as Deputy Technical Director for Engineering and Design.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner expressed his gratitude to Marshall for everything he has done for the team over the past 17 years. "His work on the generation of cars that gave us four incredible championship doubles between 2010 and 2013 was truly outstanding," said Horner. "His influence will be missed, but once again we thank him for all he has done and wish him the very best in his new role."
Marshall's hiring is part of McLaren's overall strategy to strengthen its technical department and get back to winning. Here are some of the other key people involved in this effort:
Andrea Stella - Team Principal
Andrea Stella took over as McLaren's team principal in 2021 after Andreas Seidl left to join Sauber. Stella has been with McLaren Racing since 2006 and was previously a race engineer for Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Stella's focus has been on reviewing the leadership structure at Woking and making key hires to strengthen the team.
Gil de Ferran - Non-Executive Advisor
Gil de Ferran was promoted to a non-executive advisor role earlier this year. De Ferran is a former IndyCar champion and Indy 500 winner and was also a sporting director at BAR Honda in the mid 2000s.
David Sanchez - Technical Director of Car Concept
David Sanchez was hired by McLaren from Ferrari earlier this year to serve as the technical director of car concept. Sanchez was with Ferrari for ten years and was responsible for designing their cars. At McLaren, Sanchez will be responsible for leading the design of their future cars.
Neil Houldey - Deputy Technical Director for Engineering and Design
Neil Houldey was promoted to the newly-created role of deputy technical director for engineering and design as part of McLaren's senior technical revamp. Houldey has been with McLaren since 2006 and previously served as the head of design. In his new role, he will report to Rob Marshall.
McLaren has a rich history in Formula 1 and is one of the most successful teams in the sport's history. They have won eight constructors' championships and 12 drivers' championships, but their last title came in 2008 with Lewis Hamilton. Since then, they have struggled to compete with the likes of Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari.
However, McLaren has shown signs of improvement in recent years. They finished third in the constructors' championship in 2020 and have a talented driver lineup in Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz. With the hiring of Rob Marshall and other key personnel, McLaren is hoping to build on this momentum and get back to winning ways in the near future.
