Brown delivers verdict on new McLaren Team Principal

Zak Brown has praised Andrea Stella's performance so far as McLaren's new Formula 1 Team Principal.

Stella was promoted to the role in December 2022 following the departure of Andreas Seidl, who joined Sauber as CEO ahead of the team's transition into Audi.

Previously Executive Director, Racing at McLaren, Stella has worked with the Woking-based squad since 2015, and Brown feels that the Italian possesses all of the essential qualities for his new position.

"He's doing a great job," Brown told Sky Sports F1.

"He's a real people person, he's very technical, he's a good communicator, he listens and he's decisive, so he's all the things you would want in a team leader.

"Everyone's really rallied behind him, so I think that's been a great winter change for us."

Stella's input on race car showing

McLaren faced a difficult start to the 2023 F1 season, with Stella admitting after the unveiling of the MCL60 in February that the team were "not entirely happy" with the launch-spec car.

However, with the papaya outfit bringing their first upgrades to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Brown believes that Stella's influence on the car has been able to come through since then.

"He's kind of picking up where things left off," Brown explained.

"We kind of knew we were going to have a slow start to the year. I think, Baku onwards, you can start to see some of Andrea's input on the race car coming through."

McLaren currently sit P5 in the Constructors' Championship, tied on 14 points with sixth-placed Alpine.