McLaren's "Rookie" Team Principal. Is he the right choice?
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 14. 12. 2022
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Andrea Stella has stepped up from Executive Director, to Team Principal at McLaren. Replacing the Sauber bound Andreas Seidl. I wanted to dive into Andrea's history a bit, look at his experience in the sport, and come to my own conclusion of whether I think he's ready for the top job. Is he just a short term placeholder, or a long term McLaren Team Principal? Let's talk about it.
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A gamble too far, or the right person for the job?
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I trust Zak Brown. He is an amazing leader who know what he does. Also, having a team principal heavily tied with a future competitor, would've become an issue sooner or later.
I'm inclined to agree, I back Zak
I would have offered binotto a blank cheque to be mclaren team principal on his supremely valuable engineering progress that he did at ferrari. Mclaren would comfortably be the best of the midfield with binotto there
@@Micfri300 I'd argue that Binotto should be rather technical director than team principal. After he became technical director at Ferrari in 2016, Ferrari improved a lot. 2017 and 2018 were both two very strong seasons. But when he became team principle in 2019, Ferrari performance started to decline.
@@Micfri300 I dunno if he's the best leader but he's a great technical person and wouldn't be a bad hire at any team in a technical role
@@petouser i support Juventus and the family who own them also own ferrari... and i would say that the ownership structure is not fit for purpose rather than binotto. Binotto made ferrari a wickedly fast car this season and had it not been for strategy calls that is endemic at ferrari for at least 5 seasons i would not blame binotto. With vasseur ferrari will be even further away.
Stella's wealth of experience gives me confidence that McLaren will be fine,
Whether Stella is truly stellar as team principal who knows but I hope to see Andrea establish himself straight away
So much is already in place, which makes this the least disruptive option available to McLaren (assuming they had to let Seidl go)
Zak Brown has been around the block in this industry, he knows things in F1 can move very quickly when the situation arises. I have no doubt he would've had a drawn up list of back-up plans ready to go the moment Seidl informed him that he plans to go to Sauber.
Brown tends to be the one who puts himself up to the media and is very much the voice of McLaren, and having that formality will hopefully allow Stella to just get on with his job and focus on the racing team and not put up with the external pressures that comes with being a Team Principle.
It almost in a way feels like Stella was being prepped long term for the job. Given the gradual step up in roles since 2018.
@@TommoOnCZcams I agree!
He did founded united autosports which competed in endurance racing....
Well said
Anyone doubting the appointment of Stella obviously doesn't realise the incredibly high regard in which he is held in Mclaren, in Ferrari, and in the paddock as a whole. He's exceptional.
He's one of those characters that's only really known, to those who are really in the know.
It makes a lot of sense. A McLaren TP doesn't need to be so hot on the external side of things (sponsors, marketing, paddock politics) because Zak handles lots of that. McLaren just need someone who knows the business inside and out and can run a team trackside, which is Stella's expertise. I remember a converstation with a McLaren engineer a year ago telling me how on-the-ball Stella is - exactly what they need right now.
Nice to see you in the comments mate, love your work! It's objectively better to have someone that knows the team well, Zak has faith in as a business man, and someone Lando and the rest of the team knows what he is about. Moving forward with the current regulations and the new engine rules coming in '26, it's better to have a team principal that is technically proficient and can start hiring and structuring with ideals in mind.
For sure. Definitely agree. Zak really knows motorsport, not just F1. He'll look at the market and have options, there will be options in contract to make that change too. Mclaren know how to do contracts.
It's a good point, Zak takes a lot of the responsibilities that most other TPs have to deal with.
Didnât know much about Stella before now, but having watched a few interviews I have to say I am very impressed. He comes across as very intelligent with his finger on the pulse and his clear, no-nonsense communicating style actually reminds me of Ross Brawn in many ways. If that translates to the job then I expect him to do very well.
Iâll just get the ball rolling and give myself a like.
Good choice. I ll do that toođż
Have a heart
Props to putting out some positive vibes for the new guy. He comes from good stock, letâs see what he can do.
I'm optimistic! đ
Maybe Zak being chill with Seidl leaving could pave way to Audi engines on the back of the Mclaren?
Good point that!
Put it this way, a great continuing relationship with him isn't going to hurt anyone. Whether McLaren go down the Audi group route or not, they will still have an ally in the paddock. As political as F1 is, that's important.
Betting Zak just worked out he wouldn't have to change the initials on the TP's head set an merch..!!
As a McLaren supporter, I have faith in Zaks choice and I think this year will be another year of making progress especially with Piastri joining.
Lots of unknowns now, but the Brown Master Plan is looking promising.
2022 can hardly be called a year of progress, McLaren went backwards at near full speed. The technical and design team has failed to grasp the aerodynamic challenges of the new rules, not for the first time. Brown needs to buy some genuine talent not make weights.
Andreas Seidl was keen to head back to mainland Europe- this was mentioned in 2 sky - F1 interviews. Better to let someone go on good terms and move on to the next stage of Mc Laren's progress. I have faith in Zac.
Aye, no matter his talent, you're never gonna get the best out of a human if they're not totally satisfied.
Andreas and Fred should bring more knowledge to their teams (which is something Ferrari lacks) and hopefully get them more up to speed
I just wonder how those two teams personnel will need to be differently managed.
@@TommoOnCZcams i think sauber having andreas there will help them become more of a "well oiled team" like he did to mclaren, increasing their racing competence and prepping them ready for the audi takeover so when audi to join they dont fumble like aston martin
I think I trust this guy đđ§Ą
I think Zak will have one eye on his options and the other eye on Andrea's performance.
*like any good leader should*
I have no doubts that Stella can become a phenomenal team principal BUT McLaren are still at a net loss in terms of talent.
Seidl has been replaced by Andrea but Andrea's quality has not been replaced. They need to add a top, top engineering mind to get back to the top.
They need their own Adrian Newey. As a McLaren fan I don't really have much faith in James Key tbh.
Why does I imagine binotto goin to McLaren
@@nicmagtaan1132 Binotto doesn't make much sense if his speciality is engines.
Should we expect a livestream on Mick becoming a Mercedes reserve driver? Lovely vid.
Probably not man, not enough there! Next week though I'll probably drop one. đ
@@TommoOnCZcams Bet!
i have faith in andrea stella
This is one the most most beautiful, the most most beautiful.
At first i was held back by the decision to appoint him as TP and that it was going to be temporary but after further consideration he does have a lot of experience and has been with the team for a while, both of which help growing into a TP role
He's got all the boxes ticked, just hope he can deliver on the potential!
I feel like your F1 team would be called Squarespace Tommo F1 Team with Squarespace being the title sponsor. You should make a video on that like your other "What if [insert brand] joined F1" videos.
Ron & Mika are coming back. You heard it here first
I remember hearing him messaging alonso to use all his talents to pass petrov....
He's had many an iconic radio
@@TommoOnCZcams my favorite of his radio message is "Felipe, Frenando is faster than you...did you get that message..." or was it from Rob Smedley....?
This is one of the most most beautiful one of the most most beautiful thank you we are so proud of you and of the teamđđđđ
Cool. Next, But how do you fix Williams?
I think it would be Fine
As I said in your last video commentary section that things were in motion for a long time. And now we know that Seidl wanted to leave anyway so Zak already knew he would have to find him a replacement. Plus Seidl said that he wanted to join the Audis project and when Binotto left with Vasseur being linked with that job, Zak knew he would have to find Seidl's replacement sooner than he expected. I expect Zak wanted to have as little of "rocking" of the ship with Seidl-Stella change as possible. Going into 2023 and not knowing who is your TP could have had a bigger effect than one can expect.
I do wonder how soon after their official annoucement, Audi courted Seidl. Probably a lot sooner than we all think.
Heâs someoneâs with plenty of F1 experience and someone who knows the inner workings of the team, itâs a safe option. McLarens issue isnât leadership or drivers, itâs the car, thatâs the missing puzzle piece for the team, they need a brain for their operation.
It's the least disruptive option. Which likely indicates Zak is satisfied with the teams trajectory
For the scrutiny section, I still think Stella will be under the watchful eye of the media as it's his first time being a team principal, what might decrease that would be who Sauber and Williams appoint as their team principles and whether they are known entities within the grid or not. I am sure it will all fall in order by the first race of the season though.
ive been Stella a few times in my career - the seat warmer - the fixer. its horrible. You have all the knowledge from the previous faction and know the good bits will work so you do stuff ticking all the boxes - and someone in a nicer suit and a nicer haircut comes along and takes your baby your project sometimes even your lifes work - you might have worked your way up to team principal of Fuddy-Wheels - and a new faction just takes all that and you get blacklisted coz you belong to the old faction - even though you dont...youre the fixer. The seat warmer. After that repeats a few times you eventually work out no its not you - its how power works. rarely on facts usually on the social status of the people involved and Stella has got 12 months to do something stellar else he will just get throw to the kerb - demoted. who knows. they might grind him up into paint and use him on the car coz thats how it can feel being the seat warmer and the fixer. poor stella - hes in a no win. no win - that McL isnt going to get much faster.
they should bring in binotto as CTO
Ok, conspiracy theory time⊠there were 3 teams that were theoretically options for Audi to buy to enter f1. McLaren, Alfa Romeo, and Williams. So only two of those had openings in leadership McL & Willams, both had high ranking Audi personnel move in from outside of F1 right when all these negotiations would be taking place. And shortly after the announcements they both leave their teams. One already to Audiâs new team the other⊠we donât know yet. Was this a strategic play by VW to get leadership in high places to assist them in buying said teams?âŠ. I doubt it, but still a fun thought and the optics line up.
Remind me how many good âexperencedâ team principals are available..
Executive management is a funny business and art form. Not every great manager makes a great executive manager. In many cases the only way to find your level is to do the next job. Most great managers can function as executive managers, but they wont excel in the role (see Binotto). Its a somewhat esoteric skillset, even more so depending on the industry you are in.
Agreed. After watching a couple of Stella interviews I admit was impressed by his insight and communication style. He seems to be a very clear thinker and does not indulge in BS. I'm expecting him to do very well.
Ok but a serious question: how much do you think he has earned from square space?
Guess
If a video gets about 150k views and an ad is worth 1p per view (complete guess) then it's possibly ÂŁ1.5k a video. But Squarespace sponsor so many people that it can't be worth that much... Can it? I haven't got a clue
@@dlake1224 I wish I got that much Adsense per view haha! Divide that by 3 and you're much closer.
@@TommoOnCZcams a freddo ?
Biggest concern for me is that he does really well and then Ferrari try to bring him home.
If football isn't coming home, then neither is Stella.
Could you do a video on Robert kubica, on what could have been and his hole story up to the accident? Seems like a nice story
Turns out, Stella is God
When you think about it, Seb's retirement is the indirect reason that Logan Sargeant is in F1 already.
Dominoesssss
I'm personally 50/50, since there are probably other people out there who are available like jost, but on the other hand having a TP that knows everyone and has been in the team especially in their 'darkest' helps a lot as TP.
And as Tommo said, he has been in multiple senior positions so he is experienced in a lot of aspects. I'd be more worried if it was someone who had experience in only 1 senior role in a team.
This was probably a long time coming as well, I wouldn't be surprised if Andreas Seidl helped Stella transition to the TP role.
Yeah it does feel like going from Performance Director, to Executive Director, he may have been somewhat nurtured into this position. Learn what you can from Andreas, before he heads back to VW
@@TommoOnCZcamsZak knows that Seidl is hot commodity, I'd like to assume that he put Stella in those senior position to prepare him just in case Seidl left or got a better deal.
I feel like the TP transition was already happening when Audi announced it was going to enter F1.
If you remember before the 2021 season started, Ricciardo was asked by McLaren to get up to speed by watching and reviewing footage of Carlos.
I hope Andrea Stella had done the same to learn from Seidl so he is prepared to be TP for the next season.
I'm a tiny bit worried because McLaren aren't exactly developing at a fast enough rate to catch the front three and having gone from joint 3rd best car two years ago to 5th with Aston Martin knocking on the door, I don't have much hope. A promotion from within might continue the same pattern is my worry...
Well obviously the development rate has not been as fast as expected bc the new wind tunnel shouldâve been built by now but the virus destroyed all the plans and now you still got another year atleast before itâs finished. Before that new tunnel is ready McLaren wonât compete
I think the top 3 were always going to re-establish themselves after Ferrari's wobble in 2020. It was a bit of an L losing out to Alpine for sure, because that blue car was definitely faster than the orange one.
As someone cheering on McLaren, I have confidence! Promoting someone inside the company whose had a lot of senior experience already means no need to waste any time "catching-up" like the other Principals will be doing.
Exactly, minimal change in the short term. It's the long term stuff where he'll be judged as a success or failure IMO.
All F1 team principals are well known. They are the most spoken about usually but for McLaren, itâs there CEO who overshadows the team principal. Is it cause itâs Zak or just McLaren?
McLaren have a different system for sure, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Todt & Brawn at Ferrari were a great partnership, for example.
Tommo, when aren goona get a livery designing vid, or atleast a tommo f1 livery?????
he's got quite the cv
Promoting internally feels like the right choice and he definitely has the potential to do well as principal. However, McLaren also have a lot to prove as Norris has openly said the 22 car was the opposite of what he liked (with Ricciardo's results speaking for themselves) and Piastri is coming in and highly likely wanting to prove his worth. If the car continues to be as unadaptable as it has proven and Piastri and Norris butt heads, then Stella is shouldering a potential wildfire.
2023 is a big year for McLaren in many ways, no doubt.
Paddy Lowe didnât spearhead their domination. He arrived just when it became dominant.
Ah! The dad hat đ§ą. đ
Minton is my son
Yeah but if I were Lando, I'd stick around McLaren '23, maybe 24. After that I'd look for an Audi seat with Andreas of a RedBull seat...
McLaren must be a little worried about Seidl tapping up Lando, for sure
Iâm hoping heâll pick up Lando and Carlos.
Audi sure but Red Bull wouldnât make sense for Lando. He probably would need to play 2nd fiddle to Max and he doesnât want to do that and is too good to do that
Every new person at a high and super important position is always a risk. Give him a shot if it works hes a genius and if not then he made a mistake. All we can do is wait and see.
Binotto didnt get given the opportunity i swear, didn't he say promote me or I'm leaving?
its a turning point , either the curve goes down and shits on its self , or norris and piastri start getting podiums
I don't think too much will change in 23, but it's the trajectory from then on that'll be most effected.
Next in line is now Andre Summers
Are we gonna talk about Mick going to Mercedes
âTarget plus 5â
We box now, we box now, confirm please.
So uh, ya hear about Micks new role?
Bring my man Cyril back into the paddock and itâs over
I bet 100 dollars that in 3 years from now Stella will be Ferrariâs team principal
Deal
Counter bet, Stella wins McLaren the WCC within 3 years
The team principal position is different from team to team really. Long gone are the days that the team principal was the guy in charge.
If you look at the days when Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Jean Todt, Eddie Jordan, Flavio Briatore and :Peter Sauber etc were in charge of their teams. Yes some of these guys had people above them such as Luca di Montezemolo at Ferrari, and from memory Todt was general manager rather than team principal in title. But these guys ran the teams.
With modern F1 there are still people like say Toto Wolff, but all the other team principals or similar positions are kinda yes men to someone more powerful. Horner for instance may run the team day to day, but it is not without the input of Marko (and Mateschitz to a degree). Capito, Vasseur, Seidl, Steiner, Tost etc are all very much at the whim of those higher up.
Itâs been ages already every season we expect them to be atleast in the mix of the front 3 teams, but they fail to live up to the expectations. From the days of blaming Honda for their engines and now realising there is a bigger problem within their team. Lando overperforming in the car sometimes might fool us in believing they were the midfield team last season. I feel there are a lot of bigger issues to fix than just changing the TP, I feel there is some blame on Zack brown too. Hope things changes sooner before lando leaves to Audi or RB.
đ
I wonder how one gets into F1 as a career...
it all starts by getting an engineering degree if you wanna get into technical side lol. first step pretty depressing itself i know.
Donât we think that bringing Ricardo on was a HUGE mistake? I dont think Zac is upset about the team principle leaving after that whopperâŠ.. I think hiring from within is usually better especially if they have been performing and are dedicated. You never know he could be just what they need. I dont think this is a stop gap, I dont think there are any better options.
Thing is, I don't think ANYONE could have called Danny Ric having as bad a time as he did. And Zak was likely as involved in that decision, as Andreas was.
@@TommoOnCZcams Agreed! But swallowing the results is toughâŠ. Plus that buy out đŁ
McLaren need stability, and it's better to have a replacement lined up rather that Williams who are clueless
So, Lando is going to Audi.
Stella will stay until there's no progress in the team.
I miss Cyril
First ?
Baffling decision especially when binotto is literally there has an option and has proven experience of making a rapid car.
They used to work together, so maybe bring in Binotto as a technical lead...?
@@TommoOnCZcams has resta really improved mclaren.. personally yet to see it.
Mc Laren will not be fighting for a spot in the top three any time soon sadly, thus wasting the talents of 3 good drivers.
Yeah until the new windtunnel is ready McLaren will not compete for championships.
Sadly indeed đ©
Big L for McLaren losing Andreas Seidl
Mcaren
đ
"Woking-based outfit"
Everybody do a shot!
He's probably cheap. And honestly how much worse could be be?
đ
McLaran dumped a world class driver in lieu of admitting the engineering/team failure to produce a competitive car. Seidl in my view is yet another overrated German manager who knew that come next year dumping yet another driver won't play.
I think Andreas went to Mclaren to prepare the acquisition from Audi but when that failed he just went straight there where Audi will gonna be. God's plan
It's a fair point, I forget that Audi were in talks to buy McLaren.