JUST IN: After McLaren’s “head-scratching” turnaround, Sky pundits suggested finding a “scapegoat.”
After failing to meet the development goals for the 2023 MCL60, McLaren fired James Key, appointed Peter Prodromou as the new head of technology, and managed to turn things around.
Craig Slater of Sky Sports has wondered if Key was being used as a “scapegoat” for their winter problems, though, considering that the season-saving B-spec car was only on the track seven races after Key’s exit.
When CEO Zak Brown arrived on the Bahrain Grand Prix grid in early March, he acknowledged that the MCL60 had fallen short of their development goals. It was evident on the racetrack.
‘I often wondered how much James Key was a bit of a scapegoat’
Following two consecutive races in which McLaren failed to score a single point, Bahrain being the venue of a six-pit stop test run for Lando Norris, the team severed its connections with technical director Key and instituted a three-headed technical management structure.
After seven races, they entered a B-spec car inspired by Red Bull and won all the remaining races, outscoring all other teams save Red Bull to secure the fourth position in the Constructors’ Championship.
It was a remarkable comeback.
Slater wonders, though, if Key was intentionally set up as the “scapegoat” for McLaren’s winter woes.
“I often wondered how much James Key was a bit of a scapegoat because he went on the basis of that launch car not being up to scratch,” said the Sky F1 reporter.
“They knew it right from the start though and said, ‘Look, we’ve got a fix coming in but you’re just going to have to wait a while’.
“And they did so and they put in a new a new kind of management structure and it seems to be paying off and he seems to be extremely popular, Andreas Stella.”
Since then, Key has worked for Sauber under former McLaren team manager Andrea Seidl, where the Britishman assumed the position of technical director in September.
McLaren’s gains ‘kind of makes you scratch your head’
McLaren dispelled the misconception that significant in-season advances are hard to come by, winning a Sprint race and collecting 285 points in the races after the B-spec vehicle was introduced. They also secured nine podium finishes.
Naomi Schiff questions why their competitors weren’t able to achieve the same level of success.
“Look, the results speak for themselves,” she said. “And honestly, I think they have been astonishing in the way that they’ve turned the situation around.
“It kind of makes you scratch your head and wonder why some other teams on the grid haven’t been able to do the same thing in such a short space of time.
“I mean, yes, it doesn’t happen overnight. But for them, they did really seem to go ‘Okay, We’ve made this decision, we’re sticking to it’.
“And it paid off. What an incredible job they’ve done for themselves.
“Also two incredible drivers. They really did take advantage of what they had in terms of the equipment in front of them when they had a chance to do it. They made it happen and the result of that.”
