Long before David Sanchez could find his footing at McLaren, his stint at the Woking team has surprisingly come to an end. Sanchez arrived from Ferrari to start working for the Papayas in January 2024, and after three months at the office, he is having to part ways.
Sanchez worked as a chief aerodynamicist and engineer of Vehicle Concept at the Prancing Horse before he left the Italian team at the end of 2022. He was one of the two winter signings by McLaren that year alongside Rob Marshall, former Red Bull technical specialist.
Breaking News: McLaren announce David Sanchez has left the team with the Frenchman saying “the role we envisioned and had agreed to was not aligned with the reality of the position I found”#F1 #McLaren pic.twitter.com/EZJ47BN2Ci
— Motorsport Week (@MotorsportWeek) April 2, 2024
The raft of changes came after the Papayas began to reshuffle their technical department. Citing the changes, McLaren said in a press release that the latest changes have happened to strengthen and evolve the technical model within the team.
Sanchez, after a number of discussions over his job responsibilities decided to leave the Technical Director, Car Concept and Performance position. The exit takes place after McLaren appointed three different men to head their different technical departments. However, they all had different roles under the TD umbrella.
Following the former Ferrari man’s exit, Marshall will hold the role of Chief Designer, while Neil Houldey will become the Technical Director of Engineering, while Peter Prodomou stays as Technical Director of Aerodynamics.
Are these structural changes a result of McLaren’s underwhelming 2024 start?
McLaren had a brilliant recovery last year where they went from backmarkers to podium chasers. From the ninth-fastest team at a certain point, they improved all the way to being the second-fastest team on the grid. However, the Woking team have failed to continue that momentum in 2024.
Coming into this season, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are driving the third fastest car, after Red Bull and Ferrari. This comes after the Italian team made brilliant progress over the winter and claimed a win already in three races.
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Compared to them, the Papayas claimed only one podium so far. They are currently P3 in the Constructors’ Championship with 55 points and going by their rate of progress, they are not expected to close the gap to Ferrari any time soon.
This underwhelming start to the season could be a reason why McLaren went for a structural change from within. Team principal Andrea Stella will reportedly fill in for David Sanchez’s post until a replacement is found.
