Written by Hugh Waring, Edited by Yu Xin Wang
Image: Motorsport.com
McLaren has made a significant addition to its technical team for the 2024 season and beyond, by signing senior Red Bull engineer Rob Marshall.
Marshall has been an integral part of Red Bull's technical department since 2006, joining the team in the same year as renowned design guru Adrian Newey. Prior to his tenure at Red Bull, Marshall worked for Benetton during its successful mid-1990s period and stayed with the team when it transitioned into Renault in the early 2000s. During his time at Renault, he eventually rose to the position of Head of Mechanical Design before departing for Red Bull.
At McLaren, Marshall will join a restructured technical team that includes former Red Bull engineer Peter Prodromou and recent Ferrari signing David Sanchez. These three engineers will report to the team's new principal, Andrea Stella, who took over the role following Andreas Seidl's departure to become the CEO of the future Audi Works team Sauber.
Expressing his satisfaction with the appointment, Stella stated, “I am incredibly pleased that Rob will be joining McLaren. With over 25 years working in motorsport, Rob comes to us with a wealth of expertise and experience, elevated by his tenure and track record at Red Bull Racing.
“Rob’s appointment is one of the fundamental steps and a natural fit to aid the team’s journey to get back to our winning ways.
“We are a team with the ambition of fighting for championships, but over the last couple of seasons, we have not shown a steady upward trend from an on-track competitiveness point of view. Over the last few months, we have worked towards inverting this trend.
“We have recently invested and worked towards developing and empowering the internal talents available at McLaren, and we already perceive and measure the positive impact.”
Stella also acknowledged the team's recent challenges and their determination to reverse the trend. McLaren has been working on rectifying the issues with their 2023 car, which has fallen short of their development targets.
The team introduced its first major upgrade of the season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with plans for further significant updates later in the year. Currently, McLaren sits in sixth place in the Constructors' Championship, having been surpassed by Alpine following their strong performance at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing, paid tribute to Marshall's contributions to the team over the past 17 years and wished him success in his new role at McLaren. Horner remarked, “We would like to thank Rob for everything he has done for the team. His work during the years that brought us four championship doubles from 2010 to 2013 was truly outstanding.”
Image: The-Race.com
McLaren is striving to establish itself as a frontrunner in Formula 1 once again. The addition of Marshall along with the team's recent investments in internal talent development and the recruitment of new engineers, demonstrates their commitment to achieving that goal.
With a strong technical team in place, McLaren aims to set the highest standards in terms of design and engineering, positioning itself for future success in the world of Formula 1.