Stephanie Carlin joins McLaren as F1 business operations director

Carlin, who is team principal of Rodin Carlin’s Formula 3 and F1 Academy Teams as well as fulfilling a similar role at Team X44 in Extreme E, will oversee a range of activities in support of McLaren’s F1 operations.

Her position will also include involvement in McLaren’s participation in the 2024 F1 Academy season. She starts in January and will report directly to McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.

Carlin is well known within international motor racing circles, having operated across many championships before moving into a senior management role.

Having originally worked in press and marketing, in 2011 she became commercial manager at Carlin, which was run by her husband Trevor.

In May 2022, she stepped up to the overall deputy team principal role, and took specific responsibility for running the squad’s efforts in multiple series.

She continued in that position at the start of last year when Carlin tied up with New Zealand car manufacturer Rodin.

Throughout last year, the team participated in British F4, FIA F3 and FIA F2 along with British GB3, and raced in F1 Academy and Spanish F4 for the first time.

Carlin is one of the most successful racing teams outside of F1, having claimed over 470 race victories and 30 titles since 1999 across F4, F3, F2, Indy Lights, IndyCar, ELMS and Asian Le Mans Series. It has helped promote more than 30 drivers to F1.

Her move to McLaren comes as the F1 squad aims to build on the momentum of a strong end to the 2023 F1 season.

Having started the campaign on the back foot, a revamp of its MCL60 car helped Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri emerge as a regular threat to Red Bull as it secured fourth place in the constructors’ championship.

Norris knows Carlin well, having raced successfully for the team in junior categories. He spent two years in F3 with the squad, winning races in British F3 in 2016 before securing the 2017 FIA European championship. He then went on to secure the runner-up spot with the squad in F2 in 2018.