Formerly Ferrari's chief of vehicle concept, Sanchez was initially hired by McLaren in March 2023, and finally re-joined his former team in January after completing his gardening leave period.
Sanchez was going to be one of three technical directors to succeed James Key, being responsible for car concept and performance, with Rob Marshall brought in from Red Bull to head up engineering and design, and long-time McLaren aerodynamicist Peter Prodromou the TD for aerodynamics.
But last week it was announced Sanchez and McLaren had already parted ways after just three months in the job.
Instead, McLaren announced changes to its technical structure, with Stella taking over from Sanchez in a streamlined performance role in the interim until a replacement has been found.
There has also been a swap between Neil Houldey and Marshall, with Marshall now chief designer and Houldey the technical director of engineering, a role which he was originally set to hold before McLaren landed Marshall. Prodromou, meanwhile, remains in post as the aero tech director.
Autosport understands that once McLaren's long-awaited line-up was fully in place this winter, Sanchez realised his remit in Woking wasn't what he had envisaged when he signed up over one year ago.
Source: Autosport