They poached a driver from a rival team last year and now McLaren are snatching up engineers from their competitors.

According to Motorsport.com, McLaren have nabbed 15 individuals to boost its aero department, with those figures arriving from top teams like Ferrari, Red Bull and Aston Martin.

A number of the group have already made the switch, while others must serve gardening leave before being able to jump across to the papaya outfit.

One of those individuals is senior Aston Martin aerodynamicist Mariano Alperin, who played a significant role in pushing the team higher up the grid and competing with Red Bull this season.

The appointment comes after McLaren shook up its technical department last week, including the departure of technical director James Key.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown felt the changes were much needed.

“It has been clear to me for some time that our technical development has not moved at a quick enough pace to match our ambition of returning to the front of the grid,” Brown said.

“I’m pleased that, having completed a full review with Andrea (Stella, team principal), we are now able to implement the restructure required to set the wheels in motion to turn this around.”

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has stirred controversy ahead the Australian Grand Prix by suggesting the sport could do away with practice altogether in what would be a significant shake-up of the weekend schedule.

Domenicali was a guest of MotoGP at the Portuguese Grand Prix at the weekend, where the sport ran to a sprint format for the first time in its history.

The change saw MotoGP cut practice down from four sessions to three to squeeze in a half-distance sprint on Saturday night.

While the moves have been criticised for copying F1’s recent sprint trials, the two-wheel category has implemented the 20-minute race as a standalone event at every round, and qualifying sets the grid for both races.

Formula 1 will use its six sprint races this season to set the grid for Sunday, though it is reportedly considering making them standalone events in the future.

But the sport could be set to embark on a bigger change if Domenicali gets his wish.

“I am a supporter of the cancellation of free practice sessions, which are of great use to the engineers but that the public doesn’t like,” he told local broadcaster Sport TV.

The sprint format already reduces each weekend to two practice sessions, one apiece on Friday and Saturday; however, Saturday practice is largely useless considering parc fermé conditions start on Friday night and prevent most set-up changes for the rest of the weekend.

But Formula 1 is unlikely to be able to reduce the practice count significantly, never mind eliminate them entirely.

While teams and drivers have coped with the reduction to just one meaningful practice session for the sprints, they would balk at the idea of having no time to set up their cars or trial new parts or for young drivers to get their eye in on new circuits.

Race organisers and broadcasters would also demand no net reduction in track time, meaning the sport would have to come up with new ways to get cars on track.

Domenicali has previously raised the prospect of awarding points for practice or even potentially introducing reverse-grid races, though both would likely be met with considerable opposition given the battle just to introduce sprint races.

F1 FIGURE BRANDS AUSSIE’S McLAREN MOVE ‘ONE OF THE MOST ASTONISHING DECISIONS EVER’

F1 figure brands Aussie’s McLaren move ‘one of the most astonishing decisions ever’

Respected Formula One journalist Peter Windsor claims Australian rookie Oscar Piastri’s call to move to McLaren from Alpine is “one of the most astonishing decisions” he’s ever seen.

Piastri was announced by Alpine’s replacement for Fernando Alonso just hours after the Spaniard’s move to Aston Martin was made public.

However, the Aussie stated he had not in fact agreed to such a deal having pledged his future to McLaren.

Yet the move hasn’t quite gone to plan in the first two races for Piastri having failed to finish the Bahrain Grand Prix and a 15th-place result in Saudi Arabia.

With a home Grand Prix in Melbourne this weekend, Piastri has a golden opportunity to make his mark in the McLaren car.

But Windsor pondered whether he would have had a more successful race had he stuck with Alpine rather than jumping ship.

“You’ve got to say Alpine are not doing a bad job, Mr Piastri,” Windsor said on his Twitch channel.

“This is the guy that turned down the Alpine race drive and chose McLaren, and of course McLaren will get better and, who knows, four years down the road Piastri might be World Champion in a McLaren.

“That could well happen. He’s got the talent, he’s got the pace — no doubt about that.

“But the significant point is that he actually said no to Alpine and yes to McLaren and that’s one of the most astonishing decisions ever taken by a young driver who’d never started a grand prix I’ve ever heard of or seen in my life.

“Still haven’t got over it actually, that he could do that.”

RED BULL BOSS SHOOTS DOWN SHOCK HAMILTON RUMOURS AMID MERCEDES STRUGGLES

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has shot down rumours the team could make a play for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

The Brit enjoyed a dominant spell at the front of the grid with Mercedes for several years, but the Silver Arrows have looked a shell of themselves while Red Bull shot to top with Max Verstappen winning two world championships in a row.

Hamilton is off-contract with Mercedes at the conclusion of the 2023 season and is yet to agree to a new deal.

The reporting surrounding Hamilton’s future initially sounded as if he would extend his stay with the team, but the tone has changed recently with the Brit now linked with moves away, including one to Red Bull.

However, Horner was quick to cool any such talk of bringing Hamilton over to the team.

“What Lewis has achieved in Formula One is second to none, but we’re very happy with the drivers that we have,” Horner told The Sun.

“They are committed as a pair not only this season but the next season as well. So I can’t see where we would be able to accommodate Lewis.

“I’m sure they [Mercedes] are going to sort their issues out – we’re certainly not writing him off yet.

“We’re hearing about big Mercedes upgrades, I’m sure Ferrari aren’t happy with their current position either. So we’re fully expecting things to converge quickly.

“Some of the racing has been fantastic and we saw a great race again [in Saudi Arabia] between our two drivers.

“If you have two dominant cars who are racing each other then I think that does create a spectacle in itself.

“But I have no doubt that the opposition will be coming back quickly especially as we come back into the European season when updates start to come through.”

CHAMP’S HUGE PIASTRI PREDICTION AS RISING STAR BIDS TO END MELBOURNE CURSE

Former Formula 1 driver Alan Jones is adamant Oscar Piastri will be Australia’s next F1 world champion despite a rocky start to the 21-year-old’s stint with McLaren.

Piastri has been one of the sport’s most hyped rookies since he won back-to-back F3 and F2 championship titles in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The Victorian replaced compatriot Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren ahead of the 2023 season following a dramatic contract saga with Alpine last year.

Speaking to the Herald Sun this week, Jones predicted that Piastri has what it takes to become Australia’s third F1 world champion, joining himself and Jack Brabham.

“I think he can go on to be world champion,” the 1980 F1 world champion told the News Corp publication.

“Every now and again someone comes along that has got an enormous amount of talent and I reckon he is one of those sorts of people.

“Everything he has ever put his bum in, he has won and there are not too many people that can say that.

“He has certainly got the ability to go on and be a world champion.

“He is as impressive out of the car as what he is in the car. He handles himself extremely well. I think that apart from (delivering) the results for the team, he is also going to be very good for the sponsors.”

It’s been a tough start to the 2023 campaign for McLaren, with both drivers still searching for their first points of the year.

Piastri did not finish his debut race in Bahrain, lasting just 14 laps, and finished 15th in last week’s Saudi Arabia Grand Prix after sustaining damage to his front wing during the opening lap.

However, the Australian proved his worth with an impressive qualifying session in Jeddah, starting eighth on the grid after progressing through to Q3.

“He has had a little bit of bad luck, none of which was his doing,” Jones said.

“But he has certainly shown the sort of performances that we expected that he would, particularly the last one (Saudi Arabia), I thought he drove particularly well.

“He hasn’t driven anything for 12 months, so to come in after a 12-month lay-off and then go to Formula One and go to circuits he has never been to before, it’s a bit of a steep learning curve for him.

“But as I said, I think he has got the ability and I think eventually he will take it to Lando and probably sooner rather than later.”

The F1 season resumes this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix, which gets underway at Albert Park on Sunday at 3pm.

An Australian has featured on the grid for the Melbourne race every year since 2002, but no local driver has ever stood on an Australian GP podium.

Mark Webber and Ricciardo both scored points in the Australian GP debut, placing fifth and ninth respectively, and Piastri will be hoping to continue that trend this weekend.

“It’s a massive privilege for me to be able to race in, not just my home country, but in my home city,” Piastri told Speedcafe.

“I grew up 10-15 minutes away from the circuit and could hear the hear the cars back when they were loud enough back at home in the backyard.

“I feel super privileged to have that opportunity, because it’s I think I’m one of very few people in the whole world, let alone Australia to have that chance.

“Melbourne will actually be my first race out of karting in Australia, so it’ll be my first time driving on an Australian circuit.

“I haven’t even done a track day or anything at Winton or Phillip Island.

“It’s going to be exciting for me to actually race on home soil again.

“I think the last time was 2015 in karting, so that’ll be special.”