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With Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and now Andrea Stella signed to ‘multi-year’ deals McLaren is in good shape
In almost any organization, stability is a cornerstone to success.
With Thursday’s announcement from McLaren, their Formula 1 team is primed for success not just this season, and beyond.
Last fall I sat down with McLaren CEO Zak Brown to talk about the team’s resurgence during the 2023 F1 season. After starting the year with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the back of the grid and simply fighting for points, McLaren began to perform, and by the end of the season, they were fighting for podiums and rising up the F1 Constructors’ Championship standings.
While Brown quipped that the reason for their resurgence was a faster race car, he then dove into things a bit more and credited the work of the entire team, including Team Principal Andrea Stella.
“But there’s a lot of great people at McLaren that have contributed to that,” said Brown regarding that faster race car. “We made a team principal change, and technical director, and head of aero, which were effectively our three most senior positions within a racing team, and put Andrea Stella in charge.
“And what that enabled us to do was to restructure the team, empower the great talent that already existed within McLaren because I think the impressive part is the people that gave us the car at the start of the year are the same people that have given this fantastic race car that we have now.
“So we really weren’t set up for success and didn’t have the right leadership approach to getting the most out of our people, and that’s ultimately what’s changed back at the factory.”
Today, McLaren rewarded that change. The team announced that Stella has agreed on a new “multi-year extension” with McLaren to remain in his current role.
With both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri signed on multi-year deals through at least 2026, this means that just as the team is embarking on a charge up the grid — with Brown noting earlier today that they are aiming for both a Drivers’ and a Constructors’ Championship this season — they are entering a period of stability with their key figures.
Something Brown noted in the announcement of Stella’s extension.
“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,” said Brown.
“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,” continued Brown. “We’re all looking forward to the years to come under Andrea’s leadership.”
Stella called his role at McLaren a “privilege” when announcing the extension.
“It’s a privilege to be part of the McLaren Formula 1 Team, and I am honored to continue in my role as Team Principal. 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,” said Stella.
“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.”
With their drivers and team principal all set in place for the next few seasons, McLaren is in a strong position to be contenders this year, and beyond.
This also gives the team much-needed stability heading into the 2026 season, when a new set of regulations could upend the entire grid. Having both Norris and Piastri in place, along with Stella, gives McLaren a tremendous boost in entering a new era of the sport.
