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Carlos Sainz has already explained why Andrea Stella would be a good addition for Ferrari amid reports the Italian is set to leave McLaren.
On Thursday morning, the Formula 1 world was shaken to its core after news filtered through that Gianpiero Lambiase is set to join McLaren in 2028.
The Englishman has been with Red Bull since 2016 and has worked as Max Verstappen’s race engineer.
With Lambiase set to join, it has been reported by De Telegraaf that Stella is expected to leave McLaren.
The Italian, who has played a key role in helping McLaren secure back-to-back world titles, has been linked with a return to Ferrari.
It sounds like Andrea Stella could leave McLaren! How big a blow would this be?
Erik van Haren of De Telegraaf broke the story
Carlos Sainz wanted Andrea Stella to leave McLaren for Ferrari
Last month, former McLaren driver Sainz hinted that he wanted to take Stella to Ferrari.
The Spaniard, who now drives for Williams, left McLaren for Ferrari after the 2020 season and said Stella was destined to take McLaren to the top.
Sainz said on the Beyond the Grid podcast: “I remember telling my team when we were leaving McLaren, ‘This team is actually a very good race team. These people are going to go up, they’re going to keep climbing.’
“I know how good Andrea Stella is, I know how good [technical director] Pete Prodromou is and I remember leaving that team and having two, three or four names that if I could have taken them with me to Ferrari, I for sure would have taken them.”
He added: “I knew they were doing things well and they were really good people that I enjoyed working with a lot.”
Before joining McLaren in 2015, Stella was with Ferrari from 2000 to 2014 and worked with drivers such as Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.
READ MORE: Andrea Stella has already signed pre-contract to join Ferrari as McLaren move for Gianpiero Lambiase
Zak Brown set to lose his ‘secret weapon’ at McLaren
Losing Stella will likely hurt McLaren, especially CEO Zak Brown, who previously described the 55-year-old as the team’s ‘secret weapon’.
He said after a 1-2 finish at the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix: “I think we’ve shown we’ve got the best driver line-up, and then our real secret weapon is to my left, the best Team Principal in F1.
“If you look at our pit wall, our technical leadership, Andrea, our drivers, it’s all about stability, visibility, teamwork and camaraderie.”
Stella is one of the most respected figures in the F1 paddock, and Brown will have an almighty task on his hands to find a suitable replacement.
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