McLaren CEO Zak Brown has revealed that the departure of the team's racing director Eric Boullier this week had not come as a surprise to him.
Brown told reporters at the Friday FIA press conference that the resignation had been anticipated for some time before it was officially announced on Wednesday.
"This wasn’t something that was a surprise," Brown insisted. "It was something that we had started to discuss previously as we were working together on what was the best way forward for McLaren.
"You know we’ve been under an immense amount of pressure, really even before Eric started," Brown continued. "I’ve been working with Eric now, the last year and a half and there’s been a lot of pressure on him, really ever since I joined him before then.
"I think ultimately the pressure and the desire to have McLaren move forward, I think he felt that a kind of a fresh start would give us the best opportunity.
"So he took that decision, [and I] accepted it earlier in the week. He’s been in racing a long time, won a lot of race and I’m sure we’ll see him a pit lane soon, again winning.
"I’ve got really good communications with everyone in the team," Brown added. "It’s my role to talk and communicate with all the team – drivers, engineers, mechanics – all throughout since I started.
"I take on all that information and then work with the leadership team and the shareholders and make some decisions and move forward," he explained.
"Like with all the team members, when I walk around the factory, I seek information, draw on experience. Because we have so much experience inside McLaren, so many great people who have won a lot of championships and races."
Brown was once again asked whether Fernando Alonso has inputted into Boullier's decision to leave the team.
"I spoke with Fernando, Stoffel and Lando just the morning before we made the announcement," Brown said. "I think they have got a lot of trust in the team. We communicate very well.
"Fernando is someone who has a tremendous amount of experience," he pointed out. "Fernando has had the benefit of being at multiple different teams. I know there has been some conversation about was he consulted. I think sometimes people take words a bit too literally."
Brown went on to confirm the internal management reshuffle that had taken place in the wake of Boullier's resignation from the team.
"We promoted Andrea Stella to Performance Director and ultimately he’s responsible for getting the most out of the race car at a race weekend," he said.
"We brought in Gil de Ferran, who we worked with at Indianapolis last year and who has been doing some consulting and advisory work earlier in the year, as Sporting Director," Brown continued.
"His role is to work with the team, the drivers, Andrea, and all of us to ultimately get the most out of the team environment at a weekend.
"And then Simon Roberts, who reports to me as COO, stays in charge of all the technical aspects to make sure that when we show up on a Friday at a race weekend we have as fastest a race car as possible and as many new bits to throw at a car to continue to develop it.
"That’s going to be what you see here this weekend," he pointed out. "But as I said, it’s the start of a journey, so we’re just getting started - we’re not finished!"
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