Sanchez leaves McLaren after finding role not aligned

McLaren has announced organisation changes after David Sanchez leaves the F1 team having found out his role is not aligned to what was discussed.

Having only taken up the role in January of this year, Sanchez has left McLaren and his role of ‘Technical Director – Car, Concept & Performance’ – within months after finding that role discussed upon was not how it turned out to be in reality.

Sanchez was part of McLaren’s big personalities that joined the F1 team between 2023 and 2024, with the goal of improving the team’s position in the future. Only in Australia, Zak Brown praised the young leadership team coming together steadily.

But Sanchez has now left the team with his position being taken up by McLaren team principal Andrea Stella in the interim. His departure means Rob Marshall has been named as the Chief Designer, with Neil Houldey as Technical Director – Engineering.

Peter Prodromou will continue to be Technical Director – Aerodynamics. “This further step in the evolution of the structure of the Technical Department and of the working model within the team signify our commitment to constantly enhancing our technical capabilities and workflows for greater efficiency and effectiveness,” said Stella.

“Following thoughtful discussions between David Sanchez and the Team Leadership, the mutual decision has been taken for David to leave the team. 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.

“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.”

At the same time, Sanchez added: “I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this team. While the role we envisioned and had agreed to was not aligned with the reality of the position I found, I leave with respect for the leadership, admiration for the dedication of my colleagues, and appreciation for the openness and honesty in which we discussed and arrived at this decision. I wish this team continued success as it continues its journey to the front of the grid where it belongs. I look forward to my next challenge within F1.”

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[Note: The person photographed is Rob Marshall and not David Sanchez]