McLaren has just completed a rebuilding project after a number of years in the relative wilderness.
It last won a world championship with Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and has not been a regular grand prix winner since the early 2010s.
New management, new drivers, a rekindling of the relationship with engine supplier Mercedes all sit alongside significant investment in facilities.
There have also been key new staff, though high-profile signing David Sanchez, who only arrived in January, has already announced his departure from the squad.
He was set to head the chassis side of the squad’s technical department, a role that will now fall to Neil Houldey as team principal – himself a former engineer – takes a more hands-on role on that side of the operation in the interim.
“Upon our joint reflection, it became apparent that the role, responsibilities, and ambitions associated with David’s position did not align with our original expectations when he agreed to join us in February 2023, said Stella.
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“Recognising this misalignment, both David and I agreed that it would be best to part ways now, so to enable him to pursue other opportunities that will better leverage the full scale and breadth of his remarkable skillset.
“We greatly and gratefully value the contributions that David has made during his relatively short time with us, and we wish him the best in his future endeavours.”
It’s indicative of the structure changes Stella has implemented since taking the helm for the 2023 season, which drove it forward after a sub-par beginning to the year, which saw it at the foot of the constructors’ championship heading into the Australian Grand Prix.
And yet, by the end of the season, it was one of the most consistent challengers to Red Bull Racing. Piastri was on pole for the Qatar Sprint, a race he won, one of only two instances all year that Red Bull Racing was bested.
“How we developed in the second half of last year was pretty remarkable,” Piastri told Speedcafe.
“I’m not just saying that because I’m a McLaren driver. We saw really, last year, two teams take that kind of step; we saw Aston Martin, from 2022 to 2023 take a monumental step, and then us, pretty much mid-season.
“The fact that we were able to do that was very reassuring that I was in the right place and also, we’re one of the top teams now.”
Piastri himself is a key ingredient to the team’s development.
A highly credentialed rookie, McLaren jumped at the chance to sign him in mid-2022, ahead of the 2023 season.
Such was its conviction in the young Australian that it was willing to take a significant financial hit by paying out the final year of Daniel Ricciardo’s contract.
It also endured a public (though McLaren remained silent throughout) wrestle for Piastri’s services with Alpine, which saw the matter referred to the Contract Recognition Board.
“They’ve given me an opportunity in what was some pretty rough waters, those kinds of things certainly don’t go unnoticed,” Piastri said of his arrival at the team, and why he believes it can deliver him success.
“I think we are genuinely on the right track to becoming a winning team again.
“It also went both ways,” he added of the extension he signed midway through his rookie F1 season.
“It wasn’t simply just me saying, ‘can we sign up for a few more years?’ It was very much a mutual understanding of extending that contract.
“It’s just nice to have that trust and confidence in each other both ways.”
The young Melburnian, who will turn 23 on Saturday, also appreciates how fortunate he’s been.
Following a meteoric rise through the junior ranks, his progress ground to a halt on the doorstep of F1 at Alpine.
It could have easily been the end before manager Mark Webber engineered an opening for him with McLaren.
“I’m doing a job that, quite frankly, it’s not a job,” he said of what keeps him motivated.
“I get to race cars, and not just any cars, the fastest cars in the world, and get paid for it.
“If you can’t appreciate, you know, how fortunate of a position that is, then I think there’s something wrong with you.
“For me, that is more than enough motivation to be able to do it.
“There are certainly sacrifices along the way, and it doesn’t come without big decisions, definitely, especially coming from Australia, or if you’re coming from the US, from South America, anywhere in Asia, you all have to go to Europe, at some stage to be successful,” he added.
“That’s just how it is.
“We all have our own big decisions but for me, definitely, it’s obviously been paid off and I’m able to do what I want to do in life.
“That’s definitely what gets me out of bed every morning and to continue to keep going.”
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