McLaren boss Andrea Stella credited parity in the Formula 1 regulations that enabled a customer team to be competitive enough to win the Constructors’ title.
McLaren, a Mercedes power unit customer, won its first Constructors’ title in 26 years thanks to Lando Norris’ victory at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Woking-based squad’s title victory made it the first ‘true’ customer outfit to win the Constructors’ Championship since Brawn GP in 2009 – which ironically became the Mercedes factory team a year later.
This broke an assertion by former McLaren owner Ron Dennis that only works teams can win titles in modern F1 and after the race in Abu Dhabi in December, Stella commented on whether the championship felt more satisfying proving that notion wrong.
“In itself it’s not particularly satisfying because I think nowadays thanks to the regulations, thanks to the good work that the FIA has done in terms of creating clarity as to the way the engine is used between customer and works teams,” Stella explained.
“To be honest we are pretty relaxed that the performance of the customer power units is as good as the works teams.”
Lando Norris also wasn’t affected much by the prospect of winning the Constructors’ title when he was probed on the matter in Qatar, saying: “I don’t think that’s a thought in anyone’s head.
“It’s always good to prove people wrong, but our objective is not to simply win because of that,” Norris added.
“Our objective is to win no matter who we are working with. Mercedes have helped us a lot.”
McLaren has ‘a very good relationship’ with Mercedes
Stella also hailed McLaren’s relationship with Mercedes High Performance Powertrains (HPP), a deal that was extended last year to run through the next engine rules cycle to 2030.
“We have a very good relationship with HPP, very open dialogue and while we appreciate and acknowledge that ultimately, it’s always going to be Mercedes that will have the final say… The dialogue with HPP is good and we know that they are listening to our opinions,” Stella added.
“So, I think the relationship is strong and once again I would like to say that this is good work that has happened by the FIA in protecting customer teams so that they could have their opportunities to win races and championships without having to be a works team.”
Once the extension between McLaren and Mercedes was confirmed last year, CEO Zak Brown divulged that the relationship between the two is set to get even stronger – revealing his squad has influence over the 2026 power unit.
In a conversation with Speedcafe, Brown revealed that McLaren had negotiated a “seat at the table” with Mercedes, adding: “What it means, in reality, is we have more influence and awareness early on in their development.”
The legacy of McLaren’s customer title victory
Depending on what viewpoint you look at McLaren’s title win, the legacy of it being as a Mercedes customer bears different results.
For example, following the Abu Dhabi GP, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff called it “A success for Mercedes motorsport,” but others disagreed.
In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, Alpine Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore said: “How many times have you read or heard about McLaren-Mercedes becoming world champions? Never.”
As the years tick by, McLaren’s Constructors’ title will no doubt be referred to its own achievement, with external parties such as engine suppliers a mere footnote.
That is unless F1 experiences another period of dominance by works outfits and everyone has to look through the history books the next time a customer team breaks such a streak.
READ MORE – Why Toto Wolff regards McLaren F1 title ‘a success for Mercedes’
Discussion about this post