Former Red Bull head of strategy Will Courtenay has started his role as McLaren's sporting director as Formula 1 returns to work after its winter break.

Courtenay officially joined McLaren on 2 January 2026, a spokesman for the team confirmed without further comment.

Courtenay had signed to join McLaren in September 2024 but was initially being held to his contract, which ran some months into 2026.

However, the advent of new leadership at Red Bull following the sacking of Christian Horner in July led to talks over Courtenay's future reopening, and a compromise has been reached between the two teams.

Courtenay confirmed the news on his LinkedIn page,, external saying: "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 I'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."

Courtenay reports to McLaren racing director Randy Singh in his new role.

Red Bull are expected to promote principal strategy engineer Hannah Schmitz, who has worked closely with Courtenay for the past 15 years, to lead their strategy team.

The new F1 season starts with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 6-8 March.

Before that, there are three pre-season tests for teams to prepare new cars following major changes to both the chassis and engine rules for 2026 - in a private session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 26-30 January, followed by two in Bahrain, on 11-13 and 18-20 February.