Category: Auto Sport

Seidl’s move to Sauber was announced late last year, and Stella was immediately named as his successor as team principal.

Stella joined McLaren from Ferrari in 2015 and has had various job titles, latterly serving as racing director.

Brown says that Stella’s knowledge of the team made the transition much easier than if an outsider had come in and had to learn his way around the team.

“It’s been very seamless,” said the American. “The change almost effectively happened overnight. Andrea settled in the next morning.

“Obviously he is very aware of the team, he’s worked very closely with all of them, he’s been here for almost a decade. He’s exactly who we wanted to have run the racing team.

“Andrea slept on it a little bit, he hit the ground running and it’s been a continuation from our point of thought.”

Stella agreed that his experience with McLaren made it easier for him to take over the new role while conceding that he had to learn more about some areas of the team.

“The points of strength of this transition were two, I think,” said Stella. “The first one is the knowledge of the team on my side, and then the second one is that some important projects had already been started before.

“Saying that, you are obviously stepping into the position of team principal. Compared to what I was doing before, I have to learn a lot more, like much more into the technical side or the manufacturing side or in general getting all these areas to work as efficiently as possible, and totally focused on performance.

Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal

Photo by: McLaren

“So how do you achieve it? You achieve it by having many, many conversations. You need to know the place inside out, assess this together with your people, get the people on the same page, understand the mission.

“Actually, firstly, state the mission, get everyone to understand it, and then start to work on implementing the plan.

“So elements of continuity, which were good to start from, but then obviously we will move into a lot of details as to when it has to be implemented, and so on.”

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Lando Norris paid tribute to Seidl but stressed that he has complete faith in Stella’s ability to fulfil the team principal role.

“I think Andreas did a very good job with what you see now, with what you see McLaren being currently, and the change from the past few years,” said Norris.

“The structure we also have within MTC, the atmosphere, Andreas did play a very good role and has been a team manager of many different teams, and very successful teams. So he did play a big part, and I think that’s big shoes for Andrea to fill.

“But at the same time I have full trust in what he’s capable of doing. And he can also bring a different perspective. He’s a guy who was a race engineer, so he also sees and understands things very much from a racing point of view. As did Andreas in many ways.

“He’s not been in that position long, but he’s done very good job with boosting the team, making sure that morale is up, especially so early on in the season, giving a very clear and concise plan of combating our issues, our weaknesses, and improving in all these areas.

“And from the feedback I’ve got from people around the factory, I think everything is settled in, he’s settled in very quickly, and people are very happy with the job and the feedback that he’s given. So no lacking in confidence or whatever. I’m very happy with how things are.”

Vowles left Mercedes, where he was highly regarded as its strategy director, to head up Williams after the departure of former team principal Jost Capito.

The move was endorsed by Mercedes chief Toto Wolff, who said he had “no doubts whatsoever” that Vowles “has all the necessary skills to become a fantastic team principal”.

Williams driver Alex Albon said he was excited about Vowles’ arrival as everyone at Mercedes “speaks very highly of James”, including his friend Russell, with whom he had discussed the change.

Speaking at the launch of Mercedes’ W14 2023 car, Russell said he couldn’t “think of anybody better Williams” could have appointed than Vowles.

“Firstly, really happy for James. I think he thoroughly deserves the opportunity,” said Russell. “I can’t think of anybody better Williams could have hired for the job they need to undertake.”

Russell raced at Williams for three years at the start of his F1 career and acknowledged that Vowles will have his work cut out to guide the Grove team back towards a competitive place in the midfield.

“I’m sure he’s going to have a few surprises when he goes to Williams, naturally when you’ve spent so long at such a team with so many championships under his belt,” he added.

George Russell, Mercedes AMG, in the garage with engineers

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

The 25-year-old thinks Mercedes is in a good place despite Vowles’ departure, as the Brackley team has been proactive in its succession planning.

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“I think for us on a strategic level, when it came to race strategies, James had already sort of handed over his duties to others within the team and he was just overseeing,” Russell explained.

“But actually, throughout all of last year, the decisions were being made by others. So in that regard, I think James has left us in very competent hands.”

Mercedes is expected to hand over Vowles’ duties to several staff members rather than appointing a direct replacement.

Meanwhile Vowles has committed to strengthening Williams’ technical team while empowering its current employees and improving the company culture.

The Spaniard retired from MotoGP at the end of the 2019 season, following a campaign truncated by injury, but he continued to be open to motorsport opportunities in the four-wheeled world. 

Last year, Lorenzo enjoyed a season in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italy, ending the year 14th in the drivers’ standings, while he also made a guest start in the Porsche Supercup at Imola and finished in 30th place. 

With that experience to learn from, Lorenzo will switch to the Porsche Supercup on a permanent basis with the Huber Racing squad this year.

“Happy to announce that I will be racing the Porsche Supercup 2023 with the Huber Racing Team,” Lorenzo wrote on his personal social media channels. “Such a competitive and professional team.” 

The 2023 Porsche Supercup season gets underway at Imola on 19-21 May, the opener to an eight-round championship that concludes at Monza on 1-3 September. All rounds will run as part of the support categories programme to Formula 1 grands prix. 

It marks the latest stage of his motorsport career post-MotoGP, having also shown an interest in making a wildcard DTM start last year. 

Start action

Photo by: Porsche

Lorenzo held talks with former DTM chief Gerhard Berger about an entry into the series, but plans appeared to have cooled since the German championship was acquired by the ADAC. Over the winter the DTM’s previous organiser the ITR was dissolved with the ADAC stepping in to take over the brand rights and promotion of the series. 

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Former MotoGP rival Andrea Dovizioso has already made a guest DTM start through his former Ducati and Audi connections, while nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb also made a one-off DTM outing in a Red Bull Ferrari. 

Fellow MotoGP retiree Valentino Rossi is also starring in four-wheeled motorsport, having recently made his Bathurst 12 Hour debut with WRT BMW, having made joined the GT World Challenge Europe grid last year. 

After a disappointing start to launch season for fans, as teams mostly elected to steer clear of showing off their proper cars, it was not until earlier this week that some real machinery was put on display.

Aston Martin was among the first to pull the covers off a genuine 2023 challenger on Monday, with an unveiling of its AMR23 in front of guests, fans and media at its new Silverstone factory.

In the wake of criticism that some teams like Red Bull had faced for not showing off a proper new car, Aston Martin’s move was hailed by its new driver Fernando Alonso.

The Spaniard said: “I think the fans will appreciate that we launched the real car.

“It is sometimes disappointing to see a show car with different stickers. So yeah, this team is just more fair on everything.”

Fallows said that while there was a desire not to let the launch distract from its competitive focus, there was equally a push to ensure it did not deceive fans.

“We obviously have a very aggressive development programme,” he said. 

PLUS: How Aston Martin has been “aggressive” with its 2023 F1 car design

“Although we’re restricted by the cost cap, we do want to be continually putting parts on the car as quickly as we possibly can.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR23

Photo by: Aston Martin Racing

“But I think we were very keen that the car that we launched is the car that will shake down, and it will be with some very minor adjustments perhaps in Bahrain.

“That’s the key thing for us. I think it’s important to show to our fans that we do want them to see the real car.

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“I think it’s very difficult from a personal point of view, standing around looking at last year’s car, to say well this is obviously different… the sticker’s different! That was a big thing for us.

“We’re very fortunate to have built up a very strong fan base over the last couple of years, and I think it was very important to us that we gave them something, as well as media and our families.”

Jonathan Diuguid, boss of the Porsche Penske Motorsport squad, said there is “definitely confidence” that it can go into the double-header Sebring weekend when it will race a pair of 963s in both the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship with a reliable car.

He explained that Porsche and Penske has been working with the suppliers of each of the components of the one-make hybrid system mandated in LMDh and that a test plan is already in place to prepare for the 1000-mile WEC and 12-hour IMSA races on 17 and 18 March respectively.

That began this week at Sebring with a two-day official IMSA test at Sebring on Wednesday and Thursday.

The two PPM 963s ran into issues with the spec parts that make up the hybrid system during the IMSA season-opener at Daytona on 28-29 January.

The #7 entry required a change of the battery manufactured by Williams Advanced Engineering as early as hour six after running into what were described as related to “safety systems and protocols”, while the #6 car was withdrawn late on after encountering problems with the Xtrac gearbox.

The third element of the hybrid system is the motor generator unit supplied by Bosch.

“We had some technical issues that affected our race finishing positions [at Daytona] and we have had productive conversations with all the suppliers and came back with a test plan for where we are in Sebring now,” he said on Thursday.

“The time is short, but our group is working really hard and we are motivated to come back and address the technical issues and show the potential and pace of what our Porsche 963 .

“We were disappointed with our performance at Daytona, but that doesn’t take way from what everyone has put into that date.

#7 Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr, Michael Christensen

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

“That effort continued post-race, working well with Xtrac and the hybrid suppliers to the address the problems.

“We are putting all the effort we can to show up at Sebring prepared.”

Asked to explain why Porsche, along with BMW, encountered problems with the hybrid system at Daytona and Acura and Cadillac did not, Diuguid replied. “There are different engines with different vibration levels.

“That’s what we are working through with the suppliers to make sure we understand how those components are affected by the [engine] architecture that our team and Porsche has chosen and how we make sure those parts are reliable for us in the future.”

He stressed that Porsche’s problems at Daytona had been “definitely visible” but that “every LMDh manufacturer was affected by issues through the race”.

The internal combustion engine in the Porsche is a 4.6-litre twin-turbo, wheres the winning Acura ARX-06 has a 2.4-litre V6 turbo and the Cadillac V-LMDh that finished third and fourth on the lead lap a 5.5-litre normally-aspirated V8.

Diuguid expressed satisfaction with the way the new PPM organisation performed as a race team on its first outing at Daytona.

“From the Penske side we were happy with how the team performed and the team organisation,” he said.

Diuguid revealed a first for the 963 programme this week: it tested on both sides of the Atlantic on the same day with the 963.

While the IMSA squad was taking part at the IMSA test at Sebring on Wednesday, one of the two WEC race cars was given a shakedown at Porsche’s Weissach proving ground in Germany.

The 2004 IRL IndyCar champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner revealed on Wednesday that he would call time on his Indy career for good after contesting oval-only schedules since 2020.

He had planned to step away at the end of 2020, only for the pandemic to wreck his planned farewell tour.

The 48-year-old Brazilian will bow out after contesting his 390th and final IndyCar race in May’s Indy 500 with Arrow McLaren.

Kanaan, who has accumulated 17 wins and 11 pole positions since making his debut in 1998, plans to explore opportunities in sportscars but doesn’t yet have any plans beyond this year, stating “2024 is wide open right now”.

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Asked how he felt about his decision to step away from IndyCar, he admitted that it felt “kind of weird” and said he only realised the gravity of it after the news broke on social media. 

“My phone started to blow up, that’s when it actually hit me,” Kanaan said. “It’s been a wonderful day since. It’s been a wonderful journey.

“Somebody said, Do you think you’re going to regret? Lauren [wife] asked me all those tough questions this morning. I don’t think ‘regret’ is the right word to say.

“[But] I’m going to miss it every day of my life. I miss it now. Mario Andretti drives a two-seater just because. I’m fine. I think I’m fine…

“End of May, I think it’s going to get more difficult.

Kanaan finished third in the 2022 Indy 500 with Chip Ganassi Racing and will switch to McLaren for his swansong

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

“I’m at peace in my decision. I have a great team behind me.

“I think I had a great career. I have a really good shot of winning this thing. If I win, might be sitting here again next year. You never know!”

Kanaan said his decision to end his IndyCar career is a result of not foreseeing an opportunity with a strong team in the years ahead, and being unwilling to be in the 500 just in a grid-filler car.

“You’re never ready for this, but you’ve got to weigh your options,” he explained.

“I went from a full-time to a part-time. You’re 48. You had a great career. As much as you don’t want to go, it’s there. If you’re smart, you make the right decisions at the right time.

“I came to this sport to win everything I could and to do the best I could. I would hate to be coming to this place just to participate. So you weigh your opportunities.

“Last year was a really good one [he finished third in the 500 for Chip Ganassi Racing.] When I finished that race… the question was asked, Do you think you can do it again?’

“I think I can do it again for 10 more years the way I take care of myself. But that’s not the point. Am I going to get the chance to do it at the right place again, to win it?

“Zak [Brown] called and I looked at the [2022] results. The two teams that dominated was the one that I was in and the one that was calling. So you can’t refuse that.”

Kanaan has been a regular threat at Indianapolis since making his debut in 2002 with Mo Nunn Racing

Photo by: Sutton Images

Kanaan said that he was proud to close out his IndyCar career with McLaren, because his idol Ayrton Senna was synonymous with Bruce McLaren’s legendary marque. It was Senna who in 1993 recommended Kanaan to the Cram Competition team that campaigned a Tatuus chassis in Formula Europa Boxer.

Kanaan won the 1994 title and graduated to Italian Formula 3 as an official Tatuus driver the following year, which he used as a launchpad to a ride in Indy Lights for 1996. Senna’s recommendation was thus the trigger point for his career on the U.S. open-wheel scene.

“Senna in Brazil, he’s been my idol, the guy that was actually responsible for getting me a job in 1993 before he passed,” said Kanaan.

“Everything he’s done in his career [winning all three of his world championships] was with McLaren.

“I have to say the day that I got my contract that I was signing that said ‘McLaren’ up there, I was like… At this point of my career, it’s pretty cool.

“Bruce McLaren and McLaren won their first race in 1966. Mark Donohue won here in ’72 [in a Penske-run McLaren carrying #66]. My first go-kart number was #6… My entire go-kart career, I won five championships with that.

“When Zak told me the story, the number, it’s just perfect. That’s what we’re rocking on. I love it. I can’t wait.”