McLaren boss Andrea Stella has explained how the team’s title win in 2024 has resulted in some unexpected realisations for the new season.

McLaren’s title win to become the F1 2024 Constructors’ Champions was the team’s first since 1998, and team boss Andrea Stella has revealed how the win has resulted in some unexpected realisations over the winter.

Andrea Stella: Wow, we’re the first garage!

As Constructors’ Champions, McLaren are given the first garage positions in the pitlane, meaning that their drivers don’t have to turn in as harshly when arriving at their pitbox during a Grand Prix – a tiny little advantage over the rest of the pitlane who, when it’s busy, have to swoop in at tighter angles.

It’s more of a psychological fillip as opposed to a genuine advantage but there’s also the associated pride of being at the top of the pitlane, and Stella revealed how he and McLaren made the realisation of the unthought-of bonus of the title win when they arrived in Bahrain for pre-season testing last week.

“In terms of being the first garage, I’m sure everyone in the team will have had, for a second, this kind of thought like, ‘Wow, we are the first garage!’” he laughed.

“I didn’t think that this would be one of the implications or the positive consequences of winning a championship. I’m sure everyone in the team will have enjoyed this kind of realisation.

“But, if I know my team well, I know that this will be the thought of a second, and the second after is like, OK, good, now it is all to be gained again’.

“Everyone starts from zero points and it’s where being professional, being focused on the present, counts.

“So let’s say that this was true for a second, but this second has gone already. We got used to that, and now we are fully focused on the present and the future.”

More on McLaren in Formula 1

👉 Who is Andrea Stella? From Michael Schumacher’s engineer to McLaren team principal

👉 Zak Brown car collection: The legendary machines owned by the McLaren boss

Will McLaren celebrate podium success in the same way in F1 2025?

Given McLaren’s long title drought, and even a lack of victories between 2012 and ’21, the slow ascendancy back into contention in recent years has seen the Woking-based squad take the opportunity to celebrate when a big result has been achieved.

Podium finishes regularly saw the whole trackside squad for McLaren gather together for celebratory team photos, spraying champagne, and, in general, enjoying the moment as Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri brought home new trophies for the Woking factory.

But what has been regarded as a success in these years could now be viewed as failure in F1 2025, having completed its return to the top of F1’s pecking order, and it’s for this reason that Stella said it’s not a given that similar results will get the same response this year.

“Celebrating success is definitely part of establishing our culture,” he replied, when asked whether McLaren will celebrate podiums in the same way now that victories are no longer alien to them.

“A podium is an important result. So we will evaluate internally.”

The context of the day will matter, Stella hinted, as achieving podiums is still a big deal for an outfit that, just two years ago, was struggling to break into the upper half of the grid.

“We will try also to see the sentiment of the team, because what we want to do as a team, it really needs to be genuinely representative of the sentiment of the team,” he said.

“But, definitely, we are people with the feet on the ground, and we want to keep acknowledging and keep celebrating success – even if this is not necessarily a victory, because the podium in Formula 1 is still a very important result and something that, if we were having this conversation two years ago, it would look still like, ‘Wow, it’s a massive achievement’.

“I guess, hopefully, you will discover soon what we have decided to do!”

Read Next: Sky F1 pundit addresses ‘British bias controversy’ with Verstappen ‘always recognised’