Analysis | McLaren metamorphosis: playing with fire or dire necessity?

James Key was given nothing more than a meaningless sentence in the press release: "First of all, I would like to thank James for his hard work and commitment during his time at McLaren, and I wish him all the best for the future," team boss Andrea Stella revealed in a press release. From Zak Brown, the man who served as technical director Key until two days exactly after five years, no public thank you in the tightly drafted message. Nothing.

It was not clear from McLaren's lengthy text whether James Key himself had decided to quit. Probably not, as the English team appears to have a car this season that can hardly move forward. Who is responsible for the failed car concept? James Key. In sports, it is always the case: those who fail to perform get pushed aside. The key is surely no exception.

Induction period is necessary

The new people in charge - a whole team of people even - will be tasked with pushing McLaren forward on the grid as early as this season. The problem with new people is that they need time to settle in and become familiar with their new roles. Just as the entire organisation needs to start understanding how the hares run internally. Time is not available in Formula 1, especially if the team still wants to make necessary, major updates in 2023. With the staff shuffle, McLaren is effectively throwing in the towel for this season.

In recent years, Key has not proven it can build a car that structurally wins races (Daniel Ricciardo's surprise win at Monza in 2021 was really an incident). But Key did know exactly where the areas for improvement are at McLaren and, in theory, what thus to adjust to give the mediocre season something of a shine after all. Is it a gamble to part with him in the middle of the season? Definitely. Is it understandable? Likewise.

Long wait for Sanchez

One of Key's successors will be David Sanchez, who returns to the old nest after an adventure at Ferrari. Because of the mandatory break after working for the Italians, he cannot start his new job until 1 January. That is too late to affect updates for the current car. It is also too late to work on the development of the 2024 car. The current season is barely two Grands Prix away, but McLaren already seems to be behind for quite some time now.

Lando Norris will no doubt view the metamorphosis in charge with suspicion. His long-term commitment at McLaren expires at the end of 2025, but in Formula 1, a contract means little. Whoever wants to leave, leaves. No doubt Norris has also seen that McLaren's path to date has not been the right one. But will it get better after all the sweeping changes?

Again question marks for Norris

He needs patience anyway, as the new team management can only start at full war strength from 1 January 2024. How long can (and will) Norris wait? While contemporaries Max Verstappen and George Russell have already celebrated victories, the McLaren team star is still waiting for his first win. This year, at first glance, that does not seem to be in the cards either; next season is already surrounded by question marks.

It remains to be seen how the drastic changes in the company structure will eventually work out. On the one hand, the choices made seem bitterly necessary, but they are not without risk for the (long-term) future of the team. In any case, McLaren faces another challenging period.