Former McLaren mechanic Marc Cox has confirmed he has left the team after a 17-year spell to join Aston Martin as their new chief mechanic.

Cox, formerly number one mechanic for Lando Norris, left McLaren’s Formula 1 operation at the end of 2021 to become crew chief for their Extreme E team, but confirmed via social media that he will rejoin the paddock with Aston Martin this upcoming season.

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Confirming the news of his departure from McLaren on social media, Cox wrote on X: “After 17 years with McLaren it’s time for my next chapter. It’s gone by so fast, I had a blast and met some amazing people along the way. I’ll miss you papaya family”.

Within that, however, his social media bio now contains that he will be chief mechanic at Aston Martin, with Cox ending a long association with McLaren in the process.

He departed the Formula 1 paddock in 2021 to tackle the all-electric Extreme E series as McLaren’s crew chief, and in a 2022 interview on McLaren’s website, he explained the differences between working in Formula 1 and the much smaller crew that came with the Extreme E series when it came to building and rebuilding a car.

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After 17 years with McLaren it’s time for my next chapter. It’s gone by so fast, I had a blast and met some amazing people along the way. I’ll miss you papaya family 🧡 pic.twitter.com/5M4oPXdGwJ

— Marc Cox (@MarcCox) January 1, 2025

“It’s not like I’m used to, where if you need a part, you wander around to a different part of the factory, and you go and pick it up. It’s a case of putting the order through and then waiting for that part to arrive,” he explained, while still relatively new in his role in Extreme E.

“There’s a lot of work involved, wiring harnesses and hard lines, and fitting the general furniture and basic parts of the car – that’s one of the most involved stages. Afterwards, it’s like putting a puzzle together.

“A lot of effort went in from everybody. It’s such a small team, and such a new team as well. There’s only four of us, and we’ve all had to go outside of our remits at times, but everyone has done that and worked together well.”

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