Sam Michael will leave McLaren and F1
After only two seasons, Sam Michael has decided to leave McLaren and F1 at the end of the season. He plans to return to his native Australia.
McLaren’s sporting director, Sam Michael, has decided to leave his position and F1 at the end of the season. The circumstances are quite different from his departure from his previous employer, Williams. At the time, he clearly bore the brunt of the catastrophic season experienced by the Grove team. He even received permission to start working earlier than expected during the 2011 season.
This departure is therefore not caused by the team’s lukewarm results over the course of the season. Indeed, the sporting director of the Woking team had made his decision known at the start of the season so that Ron Dennis and Eric Boullier could prepare for his succession, which explains why both parties are parting on very good terms.
This is therefore right at the heart of the strategy outlined by Eric Boullier when he exclusively received us in the Monza paddock: « What matters to me this year is not necessarily what we see on the track, but having the organization I want, at least 95% of what I want, so that we can integrate our new engine partner and, above all, so that the McLaren chassis section is organized the way I want it to be, allowing us to build a new platform. »
It remains to be seen whether internal promotion will be favored over external recruitment. However, McLaren made it clear that this reorganization does not concern either the CEO, Jonathan Neale, or the technical director, Tim Goss.
With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr
