Andrea Stella is confident that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will conduct their title battle at McLaren professionally—despite growing tension.
McLaren team boss Andrea Stella does not believe that the internal World Championship battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will escalate. “I don’t think that will be the case,” said Stella ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris travels to São Paulo as the new World Championship leader, one point ahead of teammate Piastri. Defending champion Max Verstappen is 36 points behind. McLaren is allowing its two drivers to race freely in the battle for the title—a decision that has so far created excitement but also friction. Piastri was unhappy at Monza when he was asked to swap positions with Norris. In Singapore, the two collided, which, according to Stella, resulted in repercussions for Norris. However, these were lifted after the teammates collided again in Austin – this time, Piastri was largely blamed.
Stella praises his drivers’ conduct
Despite these incidents, Stella sees no cause for concern. “Both drivers have known for a long time that the car is competitive. They know there is a chance to fight for the championship,” he explains. “But I don’t see that escalating into anything other than everyone trying to get the most out of their own weekend. That requires a high level of dialogue – but we’re usually very good at that at McLaren.”
According to Stella, the teamwork within the team is exemplary. “I am personally very proud of our two drivers and our engineers. They work together in a way that we have never seen before in the history of Formula 1,” says the Italian.
McLaren wants to learn from history
Stella refers to the lessons learned from the past. “The history of Formula 1 is certainly a source we use to understand how to manage two number one drivers who are both fighting for the world championship title,” he explains.
He recalls the 2007 season, when McLaren lost the drivers’ title to Kimi Räikkönen with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. At the time, Stella was working on the winning side at Ferrari. Today, he wants to avoid similar mistakes. “We are not naive. We know that the pressure is high. We know that the stakes are high,” says Stella. “But we will continue to rely on our framework, our principles, and good communication. What I’ve seen so far is that Lando and Oscar are very supportive of each other. Oscar spoke very clearly yesterday about mutual respect—and the same goes for Lando.“
Stella sums it up: ”We’re not naive, but we’re going to work very hard to make sure this situation remains in place until the end of the championship.”
