The state of play in F1's technical silly season

It’ll be a few months before the Formula 1 driver market for next year truly begins. Thus, there’s plenty of time for the current cast of 20 drivers – and all the prospective younglings in Formula 2 – to set out their stalls for a space on the grid in 2024.

It seems, however, that the hypothetical market square in F1-ville is nonetheless occupied in these spring months after just two races. Within that, McLaren has already done its business with a restructuring of its technical department; David Sanchez will move to the team from Ferrari at the end of the year, as James Key has been let go following the team’s disappointing start to 2023. The engineer market is open for business, with no shortage of teams looking to find a bargain to turn their fortunes around.

When a new aerodynamic ruleset was introduced for last year, engineers were effectively diving into the introduction of venturi-effect underbodies blind. The physical principles behind it have been known for hundreds of years but, in the context of modern F1, few knew how best to employ them. Once the 2022 pecking order had emerged, the teams who hadn’t quite got the new formula right would get another shot at developing a concept for 2023, armed with a year’s knowledge in their pockets.

It seemed that those in charge of the 10 teams were willing to be lenient with failing to make the best assault on the 2022 rules at the start; success would quite literally come at the behest of whichever way the wind was blowing. An unsuccessful second bite at the cherry, however, would be cast in a considerably dimmer light.

Key has now paid for McLaren’s difficult start to 2023 with his job. The MCL60 isn’t the eldritch horror of a car that it’s made out to be, but its start to life has been troubled at best and the Woking squad is yet to trouble the scorers. Team principal Andrea Stella began his new role at the start of the year by openly addressing that the technical direction of the team had followed the wrong route, and a course-correction in September last year is set to bear fruit later.

After taking a wrong direction in development and a poor start to 2023, Key was axed at McLaren

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

When McLaren was floundering in the nadir of its Honda years in the late 2010s, Key was one of those tasked with building on a strong start to 2019. Under his technical leadership, the team regathered its momentum; Key unlocked more from the engineering personnel as the squad once more began to challenge for podiums and the occasional win.

But the team had been caught out by the 2022 regulations; while last year’s MCL36 was still a podium-finishing car, McLaren lost development time caused by the Bahrain testing brake nightmares and also slipped behind Alpine in the constructors’ championship. The new car has fallen even further behind, probably occupying the dubious accolade of being perhaps the seventh-fastest car on the 2023 grid in its current form.

With Sanchez not officially joining the team from Ferrari until January 2024 when his gardening leave expires, his impact will not be known until next year’s car undergoes its in-season development. Regardless, Key’s departure should not impact the introduction of the new McLaren wind tunnel too much.

Peter Prodromou has been bumped up to technical director of aerodynamics to ensure continuity is retained. It’ll be up to Prodromou, a former colleague of Adrian Newey’s at Red Bull, and his teams to direct the correlation process with the new tunnel to ensure it can aid with the development of the 2024 car.

Audi will start to get more involved with Sauber and aim to strengthen the Jan Monchaux-led technical team at Hinwil in its efforts to challenge for titles. A possible 11th team will further saturate the market too, and a recovering Williams is also on a recruitment drive

Although teams must be wary of making change for the sake of it, it was evident that McLaren has rather stagnated of late. Getting Sanchez, a key part of a Ferrari team that had been able to make the 2022-spec regulations work, should be a significant boost to McLaren’s fortunes. But bringing more knowledge on board remains a priority and Autosport understands the team has already concluded deals with up to 15 individuals from various top teams, including Aston Martin's head of aero performance and analysis Mariano Alperin.

Elsewhere on the F1 grid, there are teams that are happy with its technical department – namely, Red Bull and Aston Martin – and those who could do with bolstering. Williams is still on the hunt for someone to come on board as technical director under new principal James Vowles, and it could be a role that Key would be well suited to. The Briton has a wealth of experience of leading the engineering side of lower-midfield teams, with Sauber and Toro Rosso also on his resume.

“I have lots of people standing in and doing a great job, but we need to supplement them with good experience from industry,” Vowles said of his technical leadership structure at Williams. With experienced heads unaccounted for in short supply, the Grove squad might have a lock that a Key could fit into perfectly.

Williams is on the lookout for a new technical director

Photo by: Williams

Otherwise, Andretti’s prospective F1 entry is currently hoovering up a great quantity of ex-F1 personnel. As revealed by Autosport a couple of weeks ago, Nick Chester has been installed as the technical lead at the American hopeful, with ex-Jordan and Manor designer John McQuilliam and ex-Williams aero head Jon Tomlinson also understood to be on board. Key might prefer something a little more tangible at this stage or, if there are other potential F1 entries on the horizon, he could be persuaded to head up an all-new project.

AlphaTauri also appears to be in the mood for hiring, given Franz Tost’s current predilection for mouthing off about the Faenza squad’s technical department. It’s hard to argue against technical director Jody Egginton’s methods for a team of AlphaTauri’s stature, as he was the main figure responsible for aligning more closely with the lead Red Bull team and using shared parts between the two outfits. The team was more autonomous when under Key; although the team did more of its own design, it left a similar scale of workforce trying to cover more ground. Although the AT04 hasn’t yet measured up to expectations, it would be difficult to see the team return to its older way of working.

PLUS: How "only tough" Tost's public lack of trust could hurt AlphaTauri

Credit must go to Aston Martin for having done its technical business well in advance, with Fallows’ signing being telegraphed as far back as 2021. Eric Blandin’s hiring from Mercedes was announced around that time too, as Lawrence Stroll sought to get the right people into the right places early.

Although there’s more to the technical teams than just those in charge, and it’s known that many of those at Red Bull chafe slightly when Adrian Newey soaks up all the credit, it's equally true that good technical guidance and management can help produce a very strong car. The influence of Fallows in the Aston Martin operation is evident, and no doubt Red Bull will have to withstand a few more high-value offers from other teams looking to walk a similar road.

McLaren is now walking its own road, having struggled to get on terms with the current aerodynamic formula, and a reshuffle coupled with Sanchez’s hiring should offer renewed vigour. And it’s none too soon either; soon, Audi will start to get more involved with Sauber and aim to strengthen the Jan Monchaux-led technical team at Hinwil in its efforts to challenge for titles. A possible 11th team will further saturate the market too, and a recovering Williams is also on a recruitment drive.

The F1 engineer silly season appears to be in full swing. And, if you’re looking for a job in F1, now might be a good time to set out your stall.

How will the F1 technical team silly season play out?

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images