McLaren announced last year that they had recruited David Sanchez and Rob Marshall for the 2024 season. The two top engineers - who came over from Ferrari and Red Bull Racing respectively - have completed their first day in Woking.
Sanchez announced after the opening race in Bahrain in 2023 that he was quitting Ferrari as chief engineer. This came as a big surprise, but not much later, it emerged that Sanchez had accepted an offer from McLaren to work there as technical director of 'Car Concept and Performance'.
Last June, Marshall's switch to the British formation was brought out by all parties. Marshall resigned from his duties with immediate effect so that he could start for McLaren in early January. The frontman worked in various (senior) positions for Max Verstappen's team from 2006, but was keen to broaden his horizons.
Sanchez and Marshall bring a lot of knowledge with them. Yet it will take some time before the influence of the two experienced engineers becomes noticeable. After all, Formula 1 teams always work far in advance, so the parts for the next six months are already fully developed, so to speak.
McLaren welcomes gains