"The way he has empowered people": McLaren CEO Zak Brown showers praise on team principal Andrea Stella

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has heaped praise on Andrea Stella for his outstanding work in his first year as team principal of the British outfit.

McLaren turned its season around after Austria with a massive upgrade package. The team bagged several podiums and was gradually closing the gap to Red Bull while fighting top teams like Mercedes and Ferrari.

In an open letter, Brown claimed that a lot of credit for the team's turnaround in 2023 has to go to Stella. According to Brown, Stella has done an exceptional job of turning around McLaren's season and empowering the staff.

"A lot of credit for our upswing in performance must go to Andrea Stella’s team and their collective leadership in orchestrating such a phenomenal turnaround. Andrea has done an outstanding job, not only in the culture he has created at McLaren, but in the way he has empowered people. He’s a very determined and inspirational leader," Brown wrote.

Stella has massive experience in the world of Formula 1. He started his career at Ferrari back in 2000 as a performance engineer. Later on, he worked with the likes of Michael Schumacher during his dominant era, Fernando Alonso, and Kimi Raikkonen.

In 2014, he left Ferrari to join McLaren as head of race operations. Stella gradually made his way through the ranks to become McLaren's team principal, replacing Andreas Seidl.

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F1 pundit points out where Aston Martin fell short against McLaren in 2023

F1 pundit Ben Anderson recently spoke about the battle between McLaren and Aston Martin in the constructors' championship. While McLaren started the season poorly but ended on a high, the opposite happened with Aston Martin.

Anderson thinks that while Oscar Piastri performed brilliantly and Lance Stroll fell short, McLaren was able to pass Aston Martin in the constructors' championship and finish the season higher in the table.

"I think that's the other thing that makes a big difference for McLaren, and again, you can separate them slightly further from Aston for this. The second driver [Oscar Piastri] contributed a lot more, even though that second driver was in his first year in Formula 1, whereas Lance Stroll didn't maximize the Aston when it was at it's best," Anderson said on The Race F1 podcast.

While McLaren ended the season with 302 points, Aston Martin fell back to fifth place with only 280 points.