The day of Saint Lucia 2022 will be remembered in Formula 1, rather than for the sweets, for the triple novelty inherent in the team principals, moreover in relation to teams of enormous prestige in the Circus such as Ferrari, Williams and McLaren. While the first formalized the replacement of Mattia Binotto with Frédéric Vasseur, the second interrupted the relationship with Jost Capito with immediate effect. The third, however, announced the departure of Andread Seidlnew CEO of Sauber (ready to start a partnership with Audi in 2026), replacing the German with Andrea Stella.
The former track engineer of Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, when they occupied the Ferrari cockpit, has therefore taken another step of absolute value in McLaren, passing from the role of performance director and racing director, up to team principal of the British house. The 51-year-old, who also boasts experience as a track engineer for Valentino Rossi, thus joins the list of those who have achieved this prestigious position in McLaren, with one particular curiosity: before Stella (the only Italian on this list) they have only been there you are managers in almost 60 years of team history.
A team that was founded in 1963 by Bruce McLarendriver who founded the homonymous team performing the unprecedented role of driver and team principal since that year until 1970, when he tragically lost his life in an accident during a test session with a CanAm car. Despite the drama, the team survived with the great intervention of the American Teddy Mayerwhich throughout the 1970s managed not only to maintain the team’s competitiveness high, but also to bring it to the affirmation of its first drivers’ world titleswith Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt, and builders.
As a new decade dawned, it was instead a Briton who took charge of the team, eventually writing one of the longest and most successful stories in all of Formula 1 history: Ron Dennis. Under his management, which remained uninterrupted from 1980 to 2008 (with a second parenthesis in the two-year period 2015-2016), Dennis took the team to the absolute top of the Circus, winning well 7 of the 8 constructors titles overall and 10 of the 12 drivers overall: among these, many brought the signature of the greatest legends of the sport such as Niki Lauda, historical rivals of the caliber of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen, and then ending with Lewis Hamilton, the last champion who passed from Woking. However, Dennis was also the head of the team during the Spy Story scandal, which upset the team between 2007 and 2008.
Before his second return, McLaren switched to Martin Whitmarsh, however facing one of the most complex and crisis periods in its history. This happened both before and after Dennis’ second spell, when the command of the team passed to the Frenchman Eric Boullier. We had to wait until 2019, after excellent results achieved in the WEC, to arrive at the appointment of the German Andreas Seidlcapable of bringing McLaren back to success after the last success in 2012. In this case, the feat succeeded in Monza in 2021, a sign of gradual growth of the team, which a few days before New Year’s now passes into the hands of Andrea Stella , seventh witness of a reality rich in history and triumphs.
McLaren team principal
MAIN TEAM | YEARS |
Bruce McLaren | 1963 – 1970 |
Teddy Mayer | 1970 – 1980 |
Ron Dennis | 1980 – 2008 ; 2015 – 2016 |
Martin Whitmarsh | 2009 – 2014 |
Eric Boullier | 2017 – 2018 |
Andreas Seidl | 2019 – 2022 |
Andrea Stella | Since 2023 |
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