This is why this designer has left after 3 months at McLaren

David Sanchez, former chief designer at Ferrari, was brought in by McLaren in March last year to succeed James Key and be one of the technical leaders for the 2024 season. But after barely three months in service with the Woking-based team, Sanchez is already leaving. The Frenchman is "too experienced" for the team's current direction, according to McLaren.

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella clarifies this, at first glance, remarkable news event. "The news about David is part of the news. The main news that is relevant for McLaren is that we have an updated, evolved technical configuration, which I think puts McLaren in an even stronger position than we were before. We had conversations with David about this topic and we realised and acknowledged that his level of seniority, expertise, and competence is potentially even more senior than the role that he had at McLaren."

'Three months in F1 feels like a year in another industry'

Stella explains why it was so important to do this now. "Three months in normal industries is not a long time, but in Formula 1 it is a long time. Wating another three months can put you off-phase with some of the work for next year's car or the work you need to do already on the 2026 car."