McLaren boss Andrea Stella has indicated that imposing team orders earlier than it did in 2024 could’ve harmed the team’s Formula 1 prospects for seasons to come.
The Woking-based squad’s reluctance to prioritise Lando Norris‘ championship chances versus Max Verstappen earlier in this campaign was greeted with scepticism.
Norris relinquished points when he adhered to a call to give up the win to Oscar Piastri in the Hungarian Grand Prix having been put into the lead through the pit stops.
However, McLaren’s stance on team orders switched post-Monza when Piastri’s bold opening-lap lunge on his team-mate opened the door to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
McLaren’s reversal saw Piastri be asked to move aside twice during the most recent Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which even extended to handing a Sprint race win to Norris.
But with Norris’ slump to sixth in the main race placing Verstappen on the cusp of retaining the title, McLaren’s part in him coming up short is poised to be scrutinised.
Stella, though, has argued that prematurely ushering Piastri into a supporting role might’ve been counter-productive to its desire to be a contender past this campaign.
“We don’t have a number one driver or a number two,” Stella told Autosport in an interview last month.
“This is a scenario that works well for the media and in pub chatter, but it’s not good when you manage a Formula 1 team because you also have to consider the future.
“I can’t know if we will win this season, but I am aware that we want to be in a position to win in ’25, ’26 and ’27.
“And if in managing the 2024 season I end up destroying the balance, I will end up not having a solid base in the following years.
“This is the way I believe we should work in Formula 1, then I am aware that complex situations can always arise. When I hear people talking about the mathematical approach of the type ‘Oscar from now on must put Lando behind’, I reply that Lando himself doesn’t want Oscar to make himself available.
“My challenge is to be able to count on a united and compact group, I can’t be sure that we will always do a good job.
“But we must always be clear that we are here to continue working and building, not with the aim of having a glorious weekend, but to do well in the years to come.”
McLaren won’t sacrifice core principles
Stella has insisted the one thing that McLaren is not prepared to do in the quest to acquire success is to sacrifice the core principles it has abided by under his tenure.
“Driver management must be seen in the context of the competitiveness of the car,” the Italian explained.
“You always need to have a management line, but if you compete for 10th and 11th place, all your efforts are directed towards achieving competitiveness.
“It is when you get to fighting for the top positions that the scenario changes.
“Our focus has always been on maximum collaboration. This is because there is a main objective, something bigger than the team principal, something bigger than Lando and something bigger than Oscar, and that is the interest of the team, of McLaren. This aspect is non-negotiable, in any situation.
“We have always approached driver management, and in general, the rules by which we go on the track according to some principles: the first, as I said, is the interest of the team, the second is sportsmanship, or if you prefer, integrity.
“These are very important values, we want to act fairly and correctly towards both our drivers, and this aspect becomes even more important when you have two talents who have the skills and the whole package needed to win races.
“We have worked hard to be where we are today, we have worked hard to have and develop Oscar, as well as Lando.
“When you have two drivers who work together, the growth of the team benefits, and since we were able to provide Lando and Oscar with a competitive car, that is from the Miami Grand Prix, McLaren has become the team that has scored the most points in the constructors’ championship.
“When you get to be in this situation, you have to define a situation that, I think, many would like to have: how do you manage the drivers? We always start from our principles, we don’t negotiate them.”
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