Zak Brown has strongly denied the rumors that Andrea Stella would leave McLaren for Ferrari. After the recruitment of Gianpiero Lambiase, speculations arose that Stella would leave the British racing team as team principal, but according to Brown, that is complete nonsense. “Yes, I can confirm that this is absolute nonsense,” said Brown.
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By signing Gianpiero Lambiase – Max Verstappen’s race engineer at Red Bull – speculations arose about the role of McLaren team principal Andrea Stella. He could eventually return to his former employer Ferrari. Zak Brown denies these stories and states that Stella is fully committed to McLaren. “There are a few teams that fuel these kinds of rumors. In this sport, everyone loves to throw things off balance, but that won’t work with us,” Brown told Sky Sports F1.
‘McLaren attire’
The American makes it clear that Stella and McLaren are completely aligned. “May I confirm that that is complete nonsense? Yes, I can confirm that this is absolute nonsense. Andrea is very committed to McLaren and we are to him. We couldn’t be happier with this situation. You will see him in McLaren attire for a while yet,” said Brown.
According to Brown, there are no tensions surrounding Lambiase’s arrival. Stella would have hired him herself. However, he does not rule out that the Red Bull engineer may consider other opportunities in the future. “Andrea is the one who hired GP. There is always a chance that he will leave Red Bull earlier, but he has a contract and we will respect that. Discussions with Red Bull also show that they must first find an internal solution before any talks are even possible,” the McLaren CEO stated.
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‘Perfect dessert’
Stella himself also reacted to the rumors and emphasized that nothing is going on. “Some recent rumors, such as high salaries and unrealistic pre-contracts, made me smile. It almost feels like silly season, which normally only starts in the summer, but seems to have started earlier this year. I’m used to these kinds of stories and can only laugh about them,” said Stella.
According to the McLaren team principal, the situation resembled a pastry chef trying to sabotage something. “It reminds me a bit of an envious pastry chef who tried to sabotage the perfect dessert in the McLaren patisserie. But we know exactly how to recognize the right ingredients and filter out the spoiled cookies.”
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