In Formula 1, success comes with a price: your best people become targets. Red Bull Racing knows this pain all too well after watching their talent walk out the door. Now it’s McLaren’s turn to feel the heat as they’ve become F1’s team to beat.
The vultures are already circling.
Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull – they’re all eyeing McLaren’s top talent as the British team enters the new season as favorites. Team boss Andrea Stella confirmed the situation in Melbourne during conversations with GPblog and other media outlets.
“Yeah. We have noticed a certain interest in our people,” Stella admitted. “In fairness, this is a position that doesn’t upset us. I think it’s just natural that teams look at acquiring expertise from each other.”
The Italian’s strategy isn’t about blocking exits. Instead, he’s focused on making McLaren so appealing that staff simply don’t want to leave – through competitive salaries and creating an environment where people thrive.
## Creating a place where people want to stay
McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes they’ve already succeeded in building that environment.
“You hear over the years that people steal your sponsors, people steal your drivers, people steal your employees,” says the American. “They don’t. You’ll lose them. If someone can get a logo off of our shirt, that’s on us, more power to them.”
Brown points proudly to the team’s stability in key positions this season.
“We’ve worked very hard to create an environment where people want to be at McLaren. Their families want to be at McLaren, and that’s something that Andrea and I and the leadership spend a lot of time on,” he explained.
The approach seems to be working.
“We don’t have to rely on contracts to have people stay at McLaren,” Brown added, suggesting the team’s culture has become its best retention tool.
