Team principal Andrea Stella has shared his insights into the championship battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, the performance of the Australian, and the significance of the overall results following McLaren’s sixth 1-2 finish of the season at the rain-delayed F1 Belgian GP.
After losing the Sprint win to Max Verstappen, the McLaren duo locked out the front row in Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday. This time, Norris was the one to outpace his teammate and snatch the pole position by a margin of 0.085 seconds.
Following heavy rain and a significant delay of almost 80 minutes, Sunday’s action started behind the Safety Car. Once racing got underway on Lap 5, Piastri immediately had the upper hand on Norris as he got a better run through Eau Rouge. The Australian completed the stunning overtake along the Kemmel Straight and assumed the race lead.
As the circuit dried up substantially, Piastri pitted for mediums on Lap 12. Meanwhile, Norris opted for the hard compound tyres on the next lap.
The gap of 9 seconds eventually shrunk to 3.1 in the closing stages of the race. Unfortunately, the Brit went deep into La Source on the penultimate lap and took the chequered flag 3.4 seconds behind Piastri, who has now extended his Drivers’ Championship lead to 16 points.
Execution deciding factor in championship battle
Speaking in a print media session after the F1 race, Andrea Stella discussed the intra-team rivalry McLaren witnessed throughout the Belgian GP weekend. Regarding the championship battle between Piastri and Norris, he admitted that they are fortunate to have two accomplished drivers who have made the 2025 title fight a sharply contested affair.
Moreover, the Italian touched on the drivers’ shortcomings and maintained that the quality of execution would primarily influence who finishes ahead going forward. Adding that the team would attempt to achieve perfection from the standpoints of reliability and operation, he remarked that the drivers would have to ultimately settle their own destinies on track.
“There is very, very little between our two drivers, and this is because they are racing at a very, very high level. We are lucky at McLaren to have two drivers that, deservedly, are fighting for the Championship.
“I think the accuracy, the precision, the quality of the execution will make the difference.
“We saw in Silverstone that a sporting issue for Oscar [Piastri] during the Safety Car restart and the consequent penalty cost him the race.
“And here we saw that, somehow related to the circuit characteristic, it would’ve always been very difficult for Lando [Norris] to keep the position, starting first at the Safety Car restart. At the same time, I think Lando didn’t help himself by not having a great gap on the finish line.
“I think the execution is what is going to make the main difference. We, as a team, will try and make sure that from a reliability point of view, from a team operation point of view, we are as good as possible, such that it will be the drivers deciding their own outcome in terms of competing for the Drivers’ World Championship.”
High praise for Piastri’s performance in Belgium
In terms of how well Piastri had managed the tricky conditions at the start, orchestrated the pass on his teammate, and managed his tyres under pressure in the final laps of the F1 Belgian GP, Andrea Stella responded that the calibre of his drive was extremely high.
Referring to his previous stint at Ferrari, where he had worked with multi-time world champions like Schumacher and Alonso, as well as 2007 World Champion Räikkönen, the McLaren team principal once again commended both drivers for performing at a level that’s emblematic of a champion.
Stella also claimed that the Grand Prix qualifying was the only competitive session where Piastri hadn’t maximised the potential of the MCL39. Furthermore, noting how challenging it is to cling onto the race lead at Spa-Francorchamps, he revealed that the Australian had quipped about the advantages of a suboptimal flying lap on this circuit.
“The question is about the quality of the drive. Very, very high quality.
“Like I said before, we have two drivers who, to the standards that even myself, in my career, I’ve been close to driving with multiple World Champions, I think Lando and Oscar are operating at that level, at the level of deservedly being in contention for the Drivers’ World Championship.
“I think this weekend Oscar, if anything, the only inaccuracy here was yesterday in qualifying where his laps weren’t perfect.
“At the same time, we have to say that after the Sprint he said, ‘yeah, I had pole position after the Sprint quali, but maybe that’s not the right place to be in pole position’. And as a joke, after qualifying yesterday, he said, ‘that was not my best lap in Q3, but perhaps this is the best place not to have the best lap in Q3’.”
1-2 finish at Spa particularly significant for whole team
Andrea Stella was also appreciative of how Piastri had nursed his yellow-walled tyres in the long second stint and managed a comfortable gap to Norris in the wet-dry F1 Belgium GP on Sunday.
Commending the Brit for securing another 1-2 finish for McLaren, the 54-year-old additionally recognised the efforts of the entire team for delivering fantastic results on a track that hasn’t catered to the strength of their cars in the past several years.
“Oscar, even in the long run of medium tyres, I think he was able to control the degradation and, in fact, I think he scored his best lap, if I’m not wrong, in the second last, meaning that he was ultimately controlling his mirrors and the time to Lando.
“So, overall, hats off to Oscar; great drive by Lando as well, and above all, a P1 for the car, which, here in Spa, let me say, is particularly important.
“Because this is a circuit where we struggled in the previous years and it has a particular meaning, I think, from a performance and a technical point of view, that we are performing at this level in a circuit with these characteristics. So, well done to the entire team.”
McLaren won’t have a first and second driver in championship fight
Asked if McLaren would find it more convenient to establish a clear hierarchy as the championship battle rages on between Piastri and Norris, Andrea Stella responded after Sunday’s Belgium GP that they are not chasing comfort.
Clarifying that the Constructors’ Championship is their primary target, the Italian added that they are keen to ensure that both McLaren drivers receive equal opportunities to develop further, compete fairly, and bring home their first Drivers’ title since 2008.
“You know, if I wanted to be comfortable, then I’m not doing the right job.
“I’m not really interested in being comfortable. I’m interested in putting McLaren in the best possible position to succeed, which means competing for the Constructors’ World Championship and, if possible, making sure that the Drivers’ World Championship is a matter between the two drivers of the McLaren Formula 1 team.
“And in addition to that, even if this doesn’t make my life or Zak’s [Brown] life any simpler, we are here also to go racing in a certain way, which is open, which may give our drivers the opportunity to express their talent, their aspiration, their quality, their constant development.
“So, that’s what we are here for and we are very privileged to be in this position and also we are privileged, I think, that we are doing that not only with the team we have but with Oscar and Lando, who are two great drivers but, above all, two great individuals.”
