McLaren was at the back of the grid during the start of the 2023 season. Their downfall started in the second half of 2022 as Alpine overtook them in the championship to finish P4. However, McLaren’s resurgence started midway through last season and the team are now championship contenders. Oscar Piastri hails Andrea Stella for orchestrating this remarkable turnaround.
“I think Andrea Stella has been a massive benefit to this team. Obviously, he’s been here for a while but I think him as a leader in the team principal role has been nothing short of incredible,” said Piastri in Lissie Mackintosh’s YouTube video. The Aussie highlighted how Stella brought a change within the side after being appointed Team Principal.
“His impact on McLaren F1 in his role as Team Principal has been profound.”
Today, we announced a multi-year contract extension with our Team Principal, Andrea Stella.
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) August 1, 2024
Explaining how the performance gains wouldn’t have been possible without Stella’s skills, Piastri added, “I know he doesn’t like to take the credit for it. But it’s true, he’s been an incredible leader and a lot of this success wouldn’t have been possible without his leadership.”
Zak Brown and Stella initiated a major reshuffle at McLaren after the 2022 disappointment. The Italian became the team principal in December 2022 and has been one of the main reasons for McLaren’s performance gains.
McLaren scored a total of 154 points in the first seven races this year. But ever since the Miami GP update, the car improved significantly and the team has now scored 212 points in the next seven races. Moreover, McLaren scored the most points of the top four in the last seven rounds.
Lando Norris and Piastri have also played a crucial role in McLaren’s turnaround
As seen in Max Verstappen’s case, the driver also is one of the most important members of a team. After all, one mistake from a driver can cost the team severely. Hence, it is not just Stella and the rest of the engineers who have done remarkably well to help McLaren have a turnaround, but also both Norris and Piastri.
Although there have been instances when both Norris and Piastri could have delivered a better result, for the most part, they have been consistent in finishing in the top five. However, when it comes to Red Bull’s case, it is only Verstappen who has done most of the scoring.
Since Sergio Perez has been struggling massively for Red Bull, McLaren have managed to reduce the Milton Keynes-based outfit’s advantage in the standings to just 42 points. If McLaren could carry a similar level of momentum in the races ahead, they have an excellent shot at winning the Constructors’ title.
