Head of Strategy at Red Bull Racing for many years, Will Courtenay has joined the McLaren F1 Team as Sporting Director. While it was announced in September 2024, the engineer only starts at the Woking-based team now.
Starting at Jaguar before the car manufacturer left the sport at the end of 2004, the British engineer would go on to work with Red Bull for two decades. He helped them win eight titles.
From 2005 he worked in the strategy group. He became head of it in 2010. It is a role he shared with Hannah Schmitz. The pair became the benchmark in Formula 1. Red Bull consistently outperformed the other teams in this area, even when they did not have the best car.
While Will Courtenay is going to be Sporting Director at McLaren, his experience and excellence could be extremely valuable. They have had their strategy struggles in recent F1 seasons.
Will Courtenay speaks on his move to McLaren F1
In a post on LinkedIn, Will Courtenay fondly reflected on his time at Red Bull. He is looking forward to helping McLaren F1 in the future.
“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Sporting Director at McLaren Racing!
“After 22 years at Red Bull Racing, the last 15 as Head of Race Strategy there, I’m excited to say l’m now embarking on a new challenge, joining the McLaren Racing Formula 1 Team as Sporting Director.
“I’d like to say a huge thanks to everyone I worked with at Red Bull. I made so many great friends there and I hope l’ll still see many of you in the paddock. It was an incredible two and a bit decades.
“But now I’m looking forward to settling into my new role and team, and hopefully making plenty more new friends, as I do my very best to help McLaren continue its recent success in the coming years.”
In a press release McLaren put out in September of 2024, Andrea Stella was extremely happy to have brought Will Courtenay into their F1 squad. Since then the team have won a Drivers’ Championship and two Constructors’ Championships.
“We are delighted to welcome Will to McLaren. His experience, professionalism and passion for motorsport make him the ideal candidate to lead our F1 sporting function.
“We are now entering a key phase in our journey as a team, and we are confident that he will be a great addition to our strong leadership team as we strive to continue challenging for wins and championships.”
