Eric Boullier quits McLaren

McLaren has announced racing director Eric Boullier has resigned from his position with the team.

An announcement from the team revealed chief executive Zak Brown accepted Boullier’s resignation yesterday, resulting in a restructuring of McLaren Racing’s leadership structure.

Chief operating officer Simon Roberts will oversee production, engineering and logistics, while Andrea Stella takes over as performance director, giving him responsibility for trackside operations. 2003 Indy 500 winner and two-time CART champion Gil de Ferran takes up the role of sporting director.

Boullier, who was previously team principal at Renault and Lotus, said in a statement announcing his departure: “I am very proud to have worked with such a brilliant team over the past four years, but I recognise now is the right time for me to step down. I want to wish everyone at McLaren the best for the remainder of the season and for the future.”

Brown added: “The performance of the MCL33 in 2018 has not met the expectations of anyone at McLaren, especially our loyal fans. This is not the fault of the hundreds of committed and hard-working men and women at McLaren. The causes are systemic and structural, which require major change from within. With today’s announcement, we start to address those issues head on and take the first step on our road to recovery. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the entire team to thank Eric for his service and contribution to McLaren and wish him well in his future endeavours.”

McLaren says the new appointments are the start of a comprehensive programme of changes to the team’s leadership as it tries to retain and attract the best talent in a bid to get McLaren back to the front of the grid. The changes come just a couple of days before the start of the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone, which is the team’s home race.