McLaren boast one of the strongest driver line-ups in the Formula 1 field with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, but Andrea Stella is clear on what comes before them both.
Few teams can rival the strength of a line-up featuring Norris and Piastri who both won their first Grand Prix in 2024. Ferrari are one of the teams who can rival McLaren thanks to having Charles Leclerc and new arrival the seven-time Formula 1 drivers’ champion Lewis Hamilton.
Norris won his first Grand Prix in Miami after the 25-year-old ran away from Max Verstappen upon taking the lead due to the timing of a safety car. McLaren’s team orders overshadowed Piastri’s first Grand Prix win in Hungary having gifted Norris the lead due to their pit strategy.
Andrea Stella is clear that McLaren’s goals come above Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Both Norris and Piastri would go on to score more straightforward race wins in 2024, too, as they helped McLaren win their first constructors’ title since 1998. Norris even fought for the drivers’ title in 2024, but it was always an unlikely battle after Verstappen built an early lead.
Now, McLaren team principal Stella states that the goal for 2025 is to offer Norris and Piastri a car with which they both can fight for the F1 championship from the start of the season at the Australian Grand Prix. But he told RacingNews365 that McLaren will ‘always’ come first.
“We do want to have that kind of problem and we worked very hard to have the problem of having a car in a condition to win races and two drivers in a condition to win races,” he said.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
“We know that this in Formula 1 always comes with some complications, but those are complications we have already faced. We have always approached it in a cohesive way.
“Both drivers were always fully aware that we need to find solutions that first of all put the interests of the team first, and then the interests of the drivers. So far, this has been a very positive process. It is a process which we plan to carry over into next season.
“But before we think about this problem, it is potentially more of an opportunity. Our focus is to make sure that, from a technical point of view, we give Lando and Oscar a car that is in the condition to fight for the championship.”
McLaren’s team order stance could give Max Verstappen a big advantage
Stella confirming that McLaren’s plan is to allow Norris and Piastri to fight for race wins and, they hope, the drivers’ title will likely delight their rivals. Red Bull have a clear No1 driver in Verstappen, who Liam Lawson will now backup after he stepped up to replace Sergio Perez.
Unlike McLaren – as well as Ferrari pilots Leclerc and Hamilton plus Mercedes racers George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli – Red Bull do not let their drivers race as equals. Christian Horner has been clear from the off that Lawson will be Verstappen’s No2 and not his equal.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend
Lawson playing the second driver role could give Red Bull and Verstappen a clear advantage in the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship if McLaren let Norris and Piastri take points away from the other again. It came back to bite Norris in 2024 when McLaren did not give team orders.
Piastri has no interest in McLaren issuing team orders in 2025 that favour Norris and he only had to concede ground once last year after they eventually backed the Briton’s title bid. The Woking crew’s initial stance saw Piastri likely cost Norris winning the 2024 Italian Grand Prix.
