McLaren have signed 15 employees from top teams across the grid, including Aston Martin, Ferrari and Red Bull, as the team embarks on an aggressive hiring spree in the hope of solving its current woes.
The Papaya team is in the midst of a radical restructuring in the hope of breathing new life into their operations, having announced the departure of its technical director James Key.
Peter Prodromou has moved to head up the team’s aerodynamics department, while Ferrari’s former head of vehicle concept David Sanchez will arrive at McLaren’s Technology Centre in 2024 as their head of performance.
The new hires will work under team principal Andrea Stella, who, himself, was only appointed at the start of the 2023 season, having previously served as McLaren’s racing director.
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Last season, McLaren announced it was ending Daniel Ricciardo’s contract early to bring rookie Oscar Piastri into the team in order to try and spark success on the track but the youngster’s first races have seen him retire and finish 15th.
“From team changes to major infrastructure upgrades, every single one of us is working flat out to get McLaren back to the top. Seeya soon ‘straya,” Lando Norris recently wrote on Twitter.
Stella has stated that he’s “determined and fully focused” on getting McLaren “to the front of the field.”
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“Since taking on the team principal role I have been given the mandate to take a strategic approach to ensure the team is set on a long-term foundation, for us to build on over the years.”
In 2022, McLaren lost its battle with Alpine in the Constructors’ Championship, finishing in fifth place with 159 points, compared with the French team’s 173 points.
Currently, in 2023, McLaren is bottom of the Constructors’ Standings, while Piastri and Norris are 19th and 20th in the Drivers’ Standings respectively.