McLaren boss Andrea Stella has supported the prospect of “constructive conversations” around Formula 1’s mooted rule changes on some teams’ closeness to others.
F1 is currently in the process of revising its sporting regulations to ensure restrictions are placed on A/B teams, such as Red Bull as Racing Bulls, from potential mid-race collusion.
The Woking-based squad was particularly irked by one notable example of such collusion that took place at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
With Lando Norris set to take an extra point for fastest lap, Racing Bulls called in Daniel Ricciardo to bolt on fresh tyres in a bid for him to take the accolade late on.
The Australian was successful, taking the point away from the Briton, who was in the midst of a championship fight with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the time.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown expressed back then that he had an “issue” with the rules allowing this and asked the FIA to “address” it.
When asked for his view – amid Laurent Mekies’ switch from Racing Bulls to Red Bull without any mandatory gardening leave – Stella exercised diplomacy but reiterated McLaren’s concern.
“This is an interesting topic and quite complex,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “We have to be wary that we don’t approach it in too simplistic a way.
“Certainly, McLaren in the past have raised the question about team independence.”
McLaren keen for dialogue despite ‘trust’ in current rules
Stella added that whilst McLaren shows “trust” in the current rules, he and the team would be open to dialogue with the powers that be on the issue.
“It’s a question that should be discussed as part of putting the sport in a very solid, fair position so that any team that operates in a fully independent way is protected against the benefits that can be exploited in being dependent as teams from one another,” he explained.
“At the moment, we at McLaren trust that the regulations in place and the way they are enforced are already a valid way of mitigating any potential risk associated with connections between teams, like changing from one team to the other from one day to the next.
“But definitely, we think this is a topic that can be part of constructive conversations in the future to see if there’s a way of approaching the matter of team independence in an evolved way compared to where we are at the moment.”
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