McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has praised Rob Marshall’s impact on the team following his arrival from Red Bull at the start of the F1 2024 season.

McLaren secured their first Constructors’ Championship since 1998 this year, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri claiming a combined total of six victories to help secure the title.

McLaren highlight Rob Marshall impact after Red Bull switch

Norris’s win at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix helped McLaren see off the threat of Ferrari, with the Woking-based outfit winning the teams’ title by a margin of 14 points.

Marshall joined McLaren in January after a highly successful 17-year stint at Red Bull, where he played an instrumental role in the team’s success with the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.

Having initially arrived as technical director for engineering and design, Marshall became chief designer after just three months following the departure of David Sanchez.

Lando Norris vs Oscar Piastri: McLaren head-to-head stats for F1 2024

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

McLaren’s upgrades proved decisive in their battle with Ferrari and Red Bull, with the major update introduced at the Miami Grand Prix in May allowing Norris to take the first of four victories.

Stella has paid tribute to Marshall’s contribution to the team’s success in F1 2024, revealing that the 56-year-old has exceeded expectations at McLaren.

According to Motorsport.com, he said: “Rob came with a wealth of experience, knowledge from a technical point of view, with a reputation from this point of view.

“I have to say that, working with him, myself, the other technical directors, the entire technical team, if anything we have been impressed even more than what we expected.

“Because of these qualities, like the knowledge of how you design a car, especially from a car layout point of view.

“This is very important for 2025 and this will be very important for 2026.

“I said it was really a good idea to get Rob, because he’s doing all the work in terms of layout for ’25, ’26 and we did miss this kind of role at McLaren before.

“In addition to that, Rob brings fantastic human qualities, a very positive person. Everyone enjoys working with him. He’s full of energy.

“You can see him in the garage and very often he’s just laying under the car on the ground.

“Everyone appreciates his incredible knowledge and experience.

“But at the same time, his hands, and sometimes even his head are dirty because he was with his hands on the parts.

“That’s something that we did miss before and we are glad that now we have it in the role.”

Stella’s latest comments come after he offered a glowing tribute to Hiroshi Imai, the long-serving McLaren engineer who is to leave the team after 15 years at the end of F1 2024.

Imai joined McLaren from then-tyre suppliers Bridgestone in May 2009, before being promoted to the role of chief race engineer in 2017 and director of race engineering in 2021. He is expected to return to his homeland of Japan rather than seek a role with a rival F1 team.

Stella said: “Hiroshi has been at McLaren for a long time. He has been a fundamental contributor to what the team have achieved over the years.

“But for me, in particular, since I joined McLaren in 2015 Hiroshi has always been one of my closest collaborators in various positions, like chief race engineer, director of race engineering, and then director of tyres and brakes, more recently.

“And at the same time, always a key role in our operations trackside.

“He has contributed with great knowledge and expertise on tyres, on brakes, on operational standards. A person of great integrity, a person of calmness. Everyone appreciates his calmness, his great organisation.

“But at the same time it’s always been a point of reference for everyone in the team who needed some advice, who needed to have a wise opinion, and they have always known that could find it in Hiroshi.

“There’s one aspect of Hiroshi we all love, [it’s] that when it was the time to go racing, the Samurai inside Hiroshi would come out and he would become one of the tougher racers, but always incredibly respectful and with great style.

“We are all very thankful and grateful to Hiroshi for what he has given to McLaren.

“He will always be part of the family and I’m delighted that he has achieved the World Championship in his final year at McLaren, because he will always say that he has been World Champion for the rest of his of his life.

“We wish Hiroshi all the best, and I’m sure we will have more opportunities to see him around in the future.”

McLaren pulled off another major coup in September, announcing that Red Bull strategy chief Will Courtenay is to become the team’s new sporting director.

Courtenay, who has spent 14 years at Red Bull, is expected to start work at McLaren by mid-2026 at the latest.

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