McLaren team boss Andrea Stella reflects on a pivotal moment in his career: the offer to become team boss as early as 2018. At the time, the Italian declined the offer, opting for a role where he could fully focus on the technical details of the car.
“In 2018, I thought my focus, based on the conversation I had with McLaren, should have been on the technical aspect and the small things, the problems we had,” Stella shares on the Beyond the Grid podcast. “I became performance director at the time, and we had to stay focused, with a relatively limited area of influence, because a lot of insight was needed. When you’re a team boss, you have to navigate at a slightly higher level, less detailed,” the Italian adds.
Stella recounts that the British racing team was in a downward spiral at the time. “We had to understand in detail why a talented team was not performing optimally. Then I felt that the role of performance director suited me better than that of team boss. I’m not someone who is driven by career; I mainly look at what the team needs,” he says. Only five years later, in 2023, Stella became team boss of McLaren. His experience as performance director had given him insights that he lacked in 2018. He believes that this role has better prepared him to lead both the technical and operational side of the team.
