Andrea Stella after McLaren's title: "We will not let ourselves be divided"

What did you say to yourself at the time Max Verstappen hit Oscar piastri at the first turn?

The first thing I thought after watching the action again was that it wasn't necessary (from Verstappen. Ed.). Especially when you're in the middle of two teams fighting for a championship. Sometimes adversity gives you the opportunity to show your strengths. That's what happened today. Firstly because Oscar never gave up, and he managed to get a point that could have been crucial, even if we would have needed two points to prevent a possible reversal of positions between Sainz et Norris. Lando, for his part, delivered a perfect weekend, and an exceptional race at a time when all the pressure was on his shoulders. He remained very calm on the radio, calmly considering the very difficult options that were given to him in anticipation of the end of the race.

We saw Lando at his best, and his best is incredibly competitive. So the right moment to show our strength was our last pit stop. We played our season there, because if it went wrong we could lose the position to Carlos… and therefore the title. The mechanics managed one of the quickest stops of the season, which confirms the trajectory of the team in terms of maturity, mentality and emotional resilience. All of this was demonstrated thanks to the incident at the first corner, but I hope that in the future we won't have to face such adversity, that we can have a faster car and that we can win titles before the last race. I'm looking forward to seeing Lando and Oscar with a good car from the first race.

How did you transform this team and why do you wear this pine's, representing Gil de Ferran's helmet, on your t-shirt?

It's not just my contribution. It's a team effort with the top management of McLaren. As a team principal you need the support of your superiors. You need to be aligned, otherwise you can’t create a culture. I’ve always felt that support. Zak is with me regularly at Woking and we have discussions about the mentality changes we want to implement. As for why I wear this pin… When I was offered the team principal position, Gil de Ferran was the first person I spoke to and I accepted because of his friendship, his wisdom, his incredible human quality, his intelligence and his racing sense.

It was clear to me that what I was going to build, I would do it with him. Gil has always been on my side, he was my advisor, my consultant, and if we managed to introduce a certain culture, create a collective belief and raise the standards of our team, it is also thanks to him. It was logical to dedicate our first victory in Miami to him. I wear this badge with me all the time at the factory. For the last race, I wanted to give a clear message to myself and to everyone that he has been with us all season.

As champions, you will be the team to beat from now on. Your competitors may try to make you lose your bearings. How will you handle this?

This will be the perfect opportunity to verify and validate whether the culture we have instilled represents more than just words and actually exists in reality. Maybe they will try to divide us, to break the cohesion we have created, but we tell ourselves every day that we will never eat this poisoned biscuit (in reference to a sentence that Stella had said during the season. Ed.), that is, we will not let ourselves be divided. It would be very naive and arrogant to think that because we have achieved a goal, we are perfect, that we can relax, that everything is owed to us simply because we are world champions. The best philosophy is to start again as if we were last, and that is what we will do from next season.

Are you satisfied to have proven to the world that customer teams can still win championships?

In itself, it is not more satisfactory than that, because thanks to the regulations and the good work that the FIA ​​has done concerning the use of engines between manufacturers and customers, we have always been serene about the fact that our engines were as competitive as those of the manufacturers. We have a very good relationship with HPP (Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains. Ed.) It is obviously always Mercedes who has the final say on the philosophy and construction of the power unit, but the dialogue is always open and we know that they listen to our opinion.

Comments collected by Jérémy Satis

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