Andrea Stella: McLaren’s F1 dominance shouldn’t be “comfortable”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says his team won’t take its foot off the throttle after another dominant 1-2 at the Belgian Grand Prix. 

Oscar Piastri won his sixth grand prix of the season ahead of Lando Norris after passing his team-mate at the start of a mixed weather race. The Australian eventually led Norris home for the team’s third consecutive 1-2 victory. 

McLaren introduced its latest upgrades in Spa, a new low-downforce rear wing assembly that made its 2025 car more efficient and should also be used at other suitable circuits like Monza, Baku and Las Vegas. 

McLaren’s dominance has shifted focus from any outside challenge by the likes of Max Verstappen, who left Belgium 81 points in arrears, to the papaya squad’s intra-team battle between Piastri and Norris picking up steam as they attack the second half of the season. 

With just 16 points between them, McLaren is adamant it will let the title fight play out naturally between leader Piastri and challenger Norris. 

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Erik Junius

“If I want it to be comfortable, then I’m not doing the right job,” Stella said. “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 McLaren drivers. 

“In addition to that, even if this doesn’t make my life or Zak [Brown, CEO]’s life any simpler, we are also racing in a certain way, which is open, which may give our drivers the opportunity to express their talents, their aspirations, their quality, their constant development. 

“That’s what we are here for, and we are very privileged to be in this position. Not only with the team we have, but with Oscar and Lando, who are two great drivers, but above all, two great individuals.” 

McLaren’s latest 1-2 lockout came at a historically difficult Spa-Francorchamps circuit as well, which Stella felt was “particularly important” as it showed just how much McLaren has improved its weaknesses over the past two years, with aerodynamic efficiency one key topic that has been completely turned around. 

Stella echoed Norris’ recent comments that race weekend execution will be the deciding factor in the championship, with Norris and Piastri evenly trading blows but Norris having made more errors this year than his Australian team-mate. 

“I think the execution is what is going to make the main difference,” he agreed. “We 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.”