Zak Brown loves one behind-the-scenes change Andrea Stella has made at McLaren that Red Bull now have to copy

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McLaren finished sixth in the constructors’ championship at the end of the first year Zak Brown was appointed CEO of the team.

That was back in 2018, when Jenson Button had retired from Formula 1 after a long spell racing for McLaren, and Fernando Alonso was driving alongside Stoffel Vandoorne.

The pair failed to score a podium that year and Zak Brown was among the senior staff at McLaren who suddenly had to find two new drivers for the following year.

Alonso walked away to try his hand at Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship, while Vandoorne joined Formula E, eventually becoming champion in the 2021-22 season.

Brown was already making changes behind the scenes at McLaren, and while Carlos Sainz and rookie Lando Norris jumped into the cars, he was getting his backroom staff in order.

McLaren eventually poached Oscar Piastri from Alpine, while Brown also appointed Andrea Stella as his new team principal.

Stella has been seriously impressive since he took over, and last year, he guided McLaren to their first constructors’ championship victory this century.

The American CEO has now pinpointed one change that Stella has implemented behind the scenes at McLaren that rivals Red Bull can’t afford not to immediately copy.

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Zak Brown praises Andrea Stella for ‘getting politics’ out of McLaren

Brown was being interviewed by The Race and talked about the leadership structure within the team.

He explained how important they are to the manufacturer’s success and said, “Andrea Stella and his team have done an amazing job, my leadership team, Laura [Bowden] in finance, Daniel [Gallo] in HR, my commercial team, Alessandro [Alunna Bravi] has just joined our communications team, because everything feeds into the performance of the race car.

“You need to have great sponsors to fund the technology, you get great sponsors because you have great fans that are engaged because of your communications department, etc.

“So, getting everyone rowing in the same direction, rebuilding that trust, that belief, and it was a few key people that just provided great leadership for the 1400 people here at McLaren across our different forms of racing series, and things couldn’t be better, but they’re as tough as ever.”

Brown was then asked about the impact Stella has made since becoming team principal and continued: “I thought he would do exactly what he’s done because he’s an unbelievable communicator, he communicates very well, he listens very well.

“He has a great technical understanding, he leads by example, he’s a workaholic, but he’s very calm.

“So, he’s done such a great job of getting politics out of the team, not letting politics into the team, building trust.

“And so, some people were like, ‘I’m not so sure,’ I was pretty close to positive.”

READ MORE: Luciano Burti shares why McLaren team boss Andrea Stella is so good at his job

Andrea Stella thankful for McLaren team after start to the 2025 F1 season

Stella joined McLaren 10 years ago and needed some persuasion from Brown to take the team principal role.

It’s been a roaring success for the Woking-based outfit, and after winning their first championship last year, they’ll have their sights set on both titles in 2025.

That looks to be on the cards right now, with McLaren already accumulating a 77-point lead over Mercedes in the team standings, and Piastri leading Norris in the drivers’ championship.

Stella’s dream was to retain the constructors’ championship at the beginning of the year, and only a huge leap forward from one of their rivals, or being thwarted by the upcoming rule changes at the Spanish Grand Prix can stop them.

Speaking after the race in Saudi Arabia, Stella explained, “We end this long triple header with another win for Oscar and a strong drive recovery for Lando.

“Firstly, I’d like to thank the team, both here at the track and back in Woking, as well as our colleagues at HPP, for their hard work throughout this triple header.

“In particular this weekend, I would like to commend the team on their excellent work getting Lando’s car ready for today’s race.”

Red Bull facing the opposite scenario to McLaren as key personnel quit the team

While everything is looking very rosy for the papaya-coloured team, Red Bull aren’t quite in the same position.

Team principal Christian Horner has watched some of his most trusted lieutenants leave over the past year.

Adrian Newey left Red Bull when his contribution to the team was questioned, and is now helping Aston Martin prepare for the upcoming rule changes in 2026.

Jonathan Wheatley has taken over as team principal of Sauber, Will Courtenay is preparing to join McLaren and follow in the footsteps of Rob Marshall who already made that switch.

Horner needs to address so many of his senior staff departing, and if he can find a way to lead the team in a similar manner to Stella, then that might help him resolve the issue.

The worst case scenario is Max Verstappen departs and that would be a disaster he might not be able to recover from.