Emanuele Pirro has decided to leave his role of being a director of F1 McLaren Driver Development Programme.
Having joined McLaren only last year to oversee the McLaren Driver Development Programme, former F1 driver and Le Mans winner Pirro has decided to leave the role after feeling that he has done what he had to when hired for the role.
He says he did the work of scouting and signing some drivers and it is now on the internal team to take care of those drivers and take them forward. It is another big name to leave McLaren after they announced the departure of David Sanchez.
“After a year of hard work and satisfaction, I will be leaving the McLaren Driver Development Programme,” wrote Pirro. “Together with the F1 team, I was able to put in place a structure to help develop young, talented, and hard-working drivers into future McLaren champions.
“To the best of my ability, I carried out this task, scouting and signing young stars which I truly feel can carve their names into the history books. I trust the internal resources who will run the MDDP will continue on my path and help the programme now, giving the type of unique support developing drivers need alongside the professionalism and experience of the great teams they are all representing.
“I have done my best in transmitting the lessons learned and the mistakes made over a life in motorsport and now I step aside and let the programme walk on its own legs, grateful for the opportunity that has been given to me. I wish all the best to Gabriel [Bortoleto], Ugo [Ugochukwu], Bianca [Bustamante], Pato [O’Ward], Ryo [Hirakawa] and Brando [Badoer], along with the future drivers with whom a collaboration has already begun. With all of you and your competitors, the future of the sport I have grown to love so much is in safe hands. I am now ready for new challenges…”
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