McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella signs multi-year contract extension

McLaren have handed Team Principal Andrea Stella a multi-year contract extension following a strong first-half of the season that has seen the iconic British team become genuine world championship contenders.

Stella joined McLaren in 2015, working as Head of Race Operations and Performance Director before earning promotion to Executive Director of Racing in 2019.

Since becoming Team Principal in 2022, the team has progressed rapidly – earning two Grand Prix wins, 18 further podiums and a Sprint victory.

McLaren are currently on a run of 10 successive podiums and sit just 42 points (less than the number of points you can earn in a single Grand Prix weekend) behind championship leaders Red Bull.

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - JULY 21: Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren F1 Team (left) and Oscar — McLaren are currently on a run of 10 successive podiums, including their one-two result in Hungary

On the eve of F1’s two-week summer break, McLaren have moved to lock down the former Ferrari engineer, who has worked with the likes of Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, to a long-term deal.

“It’s a privilege to be part of the McLaren Formula 1 team, and I am honoured to continue in my role as Team Principal,” said Stella. “We’ve made great strides forward in the past year and a half and we still have a lot more work to do to consistently fight at the front of the grid, which poses an exciting challenge.

“Success comes through the team working in synergy, and I am enjoying my role, which has allowed me to help unlock individual talent and empower people to work together towards our Team’s objectives.

“My thanks go to Zak for his confidence in me as a leader, to my entire leadership team and all my colleagues in the Team, for their continued collaboration and support. I am excited for what we can continue to achieve together.”

YEONGAM GUN, SOUTH KOREA - OCTOBER 22: Fernando Alonso of Spain and Ferrari talks with his race — Stella worked with the likes of Fernando Alonso during his time as an engineer at Ferrari

McLaren CEO Zak Brown added: “I am delighted to confirm we’ve extended Andrea’s contract as our F1 Team Principal for multiple years.

“His excellent leadership, expertise and the respect he holds within the team and Formula 1 means we could not have a better person in place to continue the pursuit of consistently fighting at the front of the grid.

“His impact on McLaren F1 in his role as Team Principal has been profound, not only through our results on track and the trajectory of the team but also in his development of our culture and mindset.

“With multi-year extensions already agreed with Lando, Oscar, and now Andrea, we can confidently continue on our quest to become World Champions. We’re all looking forward to the years to come under Andrea’s leadership.”

Within the last year, McLaren have agreed multi-year extensions with drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as the team focuses on stability on their quest to return a first World Championship since 2008.

McLaren Chief Executive Officer Zak BrownMIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 05: McLaren Team Principal Andrea — McLaren CEO Zak Brown has hailed Stella's leadership and his impact since becoming Team Principal

Lawrence Barretto says…

The impact Stella has had on the McLaren F1 organisation since taking over as Team Principal is extraordinary.

When he assumed overall control, McLaren had just finished fifth in the constructors’ championship, 600 points adrift of champions Red Bull.

Fast forward 18 months and the team are second, just 42 behind Red Bull and with the fastest machine at most tracks.

Spend time with Stella and you’ll find an incredibly kind and personable character who is supremely intelligent and very methodical.

He always looks on the positive side, is hugely passionate about racing and laser-focused on morphing McLaren into a championship-winning team.

You can tell that McLaren’s 1,000-strong staff love working for him. They believe in him and they believe in his vision. And it’s clear his methods are getting the very best out of them.

Stella doesn’t like to take any credit, though. For him, it’s a team effort – but there’s no denying that his influence has played a huge role in McLaren’s turnaround.

It’s no surprise, then, that as he did with Norris and Piastri, Brown has moved to lock down Stella and extinguish any hope rivals may have had of snatching them.