McLaren’s Sporting Director Will Courtenay has attributed the team’s recent ascent in Formula 1 to the leadership changes implemented by CEO Zak Brown and Team Principal Andrea Stella. Courtenay highlighted their influence as pivotal in transforming the team’s operational structure and performance trajectory.
Courtenay, formerly Red Bull Racing’s Head of Race Strategy, joined McLaren at the start of the 2026 season. His move was initially announced in September 2024, with an early release from his Red Bull contract facilitating his arrival in Woking.
Andrea Stella praised Courtenay’s experience and professionalism upon his appointment, describing him as a significant addition to McLaren’s management team. Courtenay’s role involves overseeing the Formula 1 sporting function, reporting directly to Racing Director Randeep Singh.
Zak Brown has been central to McLaren’s transformation, guiding the team from a challenging period in 2018 to consecutive Constructors’ Championship titles in 2024 and 2025. His leadership strategy focuses on empowering key personnel and ensuring cohesive alignment across the organisation.
Andrea Stella, promoted to Team Principal in 2022, has overseen a significant restructuring of McLaren’s technical department. This involved moving away from a single Executive Technical Director role to a three-person Technical Executive Team.
The current technical leadership includes Peter Prodromou as Technical Director of Aerodynamics, Neil Houldey as Technical Director of Engineering and Design, and Rob Marshall as Chief Designer. This structure aims to enhance specialized expertise within the team.
Despite their recent championship success, McLaren has experienced a mixed start to the 2026 season. Early performance was hampered by reliability issues and challenges in fully harnessing the new power unit regulations.
Lando Norris secured McLaren’s first victory of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, following a period where the team acknowledged being behind rivals in development. The team is currently third in the Constructors’ Championship.
McLaren introduced a substantial upgrade package at the Australian Grand Prix in March, followed by further developments for the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix. The Hungarian GP upgrades were described as a ‘correction of course’ for the MCL40.
These Hungarian upgrades specifically addressed weaknesses in the car’s underbody and load distribution, issues traced back to the decision to adopt a short wheelbase for the 2026 car.
The team has also established a dedicated power unit performance team to optimise the new hybrid power units, which feature a 53:47 split between combustion and electrical energy. This initiative represents a new skill set for the team.
Recent speculation regarding Andrea Stella’s potential move to Ferrari has been firmly dismissed by Zak Brown. Brown labelled such rumours as ‘complete nonsense,’ reaffirming Stella’s long-term commitment to McLaren.
‘I can confirm that this is complete nonsense. A big part of our sport is that everyone likes to destabilise teams, but that doesn’t work here,’ Brown stated.
Brown further clarified that Stella was instrumental in the decision to hire Gianpiero Lambiase as Chief Racing Officer from 2027, emphasizing that Lambiase will report to Stella, not replace him.
