McLaren is sitting on top of the constructors’ standings, 41 points ahead of Red Bull in second. With just six more races remaining, the Woking-based outfit looks like it is about to finish its championship drought at the end of the season. Meanwhile, Lando Norris continues to eat into Max Verstappen’s lead for the drivers’ championship with just 52 points separating them.
Not in his wildest dreams would Andrea Stella have imagined this happening when he took over the role of Team Principal just over a year ago. Andreas Seidl vacated the position after a disappointing 2022 season that saw McLaren finish 5th behind Alpine. What followed was a far-from-ideal start for Stella, who kicked off 2023 with a sub-par car.
Despite bagging just 29 points in the first nine races of the season, McLaren surprisingly kept signing some lucrative sponsorship deals with big names, all courtesy of CEO Zak Brown. That was when the fortunes also turned on the track with the British GP, McLaren’s home race. At Silverstone, the papaya team scored more points than it had until then in the season (30).
McLaren is the 2023 World Sponsor Champion pic.twitter.com/2ApezN78iW
— Scherazade (@ScherazadeMS) March 28, 2023
It also marked their first podium finish of the year with Norris securing P2. Since then, the momentum has continued to see an uptick as the engineering team led by Stella developed a better understanding of the ground-effect concept. Conversely, Brown kept a steady stream of endorsements flowing, turning McLaren into the team with the highest number of sponsors.
The American CEO also divides the task of representing the team in press conferences with Stella. The Italian, who likes to engross himself more in the internal matters of the team’s functioning and the car’s development, conveniently leaves Brown the opportunity to exchange jibes with other team bosses.
Synergy between Brown and Stella and the challenges ahead
Brown, who has cracked the code of F1’s business, needed a man to take care of the performance. He saw that potential in Stella long back. The former Ferrari engineer, however, turned down the offer to step up, citing low confidence as the reason. Stella only assessed himself to be fit for the job when the offer once again came calling in December 2022.
In just one year, the Italian identified the right men and women for the job and made McLaren a title contender. Despite once again starting the season with an undercooked car in 2024, the team remained in contention with Red Bull. The floodgates opened at the Miami GP, where Norris registered his maiden race win, thanks to steady progress in the car. Since then, he has won two more, as has his teammate Oscar Piastri.
“He’s been the key to almost the whole thing.”
Lando Norris on the impact that Andrea Stella has had at McLaren pic.twitter.com/NOoobIz3zv
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 30, 2024
The duo has also been regular on the podium but has seen their fair share of run-ins. Despite Norris having a more realistic shot at the championship, Piastri refused to play second fiddle to his teammate until the Azerbaijan GP. When the Australian agreed to help wherever necessary, the Briton respectfully declined the offer.
Managing the friction between their drivers is just one challenge for the enigmatic duo of Brown and Stella. Another is maintaining momentum through 2025 while also focusing on the 2026 car, which will lay the foundation for McLaren’s success in the next era of regulations. After all, nothing attracts sponsorship money quite like strong on-track performance. The two go hand in hand, much like the dynamic pairing of Brown and Stella at the helm.
