writer: Nilanjana Chatterjee

Introduction:

McLaren has been nothing less than a Dark Horse of the 2023 season. The team didn’t have a good start at Jeddah and Bahrain. Lando Norris in the Bahrain Grand Prix had to make about six pitstops and rookie Oscar Piastri had to struggle getting used to the car. The initial races of the season were a wash out for McLaren as they struggled to make it in the points.  

However, McLaren introduced their first major upgrade in Austria. Team principal Adrea Stella called the upgrade as a possibility for the drivers to “turn around” the season. The team surprised everyone on the grid with their “rocketship speed” in Silverstone, where Lando and Oscar finished P2 and P3 respectively in the British Grand Prix qualifying. There was no turning back since then. Lando secured three back-to-back podiums and Oscar finished on the top in the sprint events.  

Team McLaren’s success has been possible because of sustained and gradual efforts by everyone in the team, starting with team principal Andrea Stella. He proved to be team “leader” and not a team “boss” as many news portals mention team principals. Andrea Stella is on a mission to make McLaren strong enough to be on the top with Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes.  

McLaren’s nurturing culture:

Andrea Stella has taken the mantle from Seidl and has established a culture that has brought the best out of the drivers, mechanics in the garage, engineers, and executive management. Stella learned about the “culture” of a team from Michael Schumacher, who was the emotional engine of Team Ferrari. The Italian taught him how “to be comfortable with the uncomfortable” from the driver. Using this experience at McLaren, the team principal said on the podcast Beyond the Grid, “I think if you want to be part of our journey, something we said very clearly at McLaren is that you need to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, because this journey is necessarily going to be uncomfortable.” Adding further, he said, “It’s for us, especially in leadership positions, to create the conditions for this discomfort to be enjoyable.”

He recalls from his time at Ferrari that it is important for the leadership to establish personal relationships with everyone in the team. The behavior and the demonstration of wanting to communicate with someone like a junior engineer, like Stella, had imprinted on him. This is the “culture” he is trying to imbibe in McLaren. Speaking about the same, he said, “The script was almost set and then evolve, develop, and you need to be open minded and make sure that your ego doesn't get in the way.”

The technical approach to developments and upgrades:

Apart from a nurturing environment, McLaren is also recognized for its technical approach to change. With their first upgrade to the MCL60 made in Austria, the team was assured of having a good car on track. The confidence in the car increased during the initial tests, where Stella picked up hints of the car being able to perform well during the race. In his interview with Beyond the Grid, he said, “You couldn't necessarily see the outright lap time, but I remember myself looking immediately at overlays, and I could see that the speed we were carrying in the corners compared to the other car was encouraging. I said to myself, ‘this extra speed we are carrying must be coming from the car.’” This assurance and confidence in the car drove them to debut on track in the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix in the Sprint event.

MCL60’s astonishing pace shocked everyone on the grid at Silverstone. Lando Norris secured his first podium of the season, which gave the rival teams a good reason to worry about their performance in future races. However, Stella was quick to figure out the shortcomings of the car after the Hungarian Grand Prix and said there was more room for improvement for the MCL60. In his interview with Motorsports.com, the team principal said, “We certainly come out of this event encouraged by the fact that we made progress in the average speed.” Giving further insights from the race about what the car needs, he said, “We also see, as I said yesterday, that we lose time in the three low-speed corners: in the first corner, in the chicane, and in turn 12. So, confirming that there is still work to be done on the low speeds."

The big jump from Ferrari to McLaren:

Andrea Stella has been able to reach where he is today because of his experience working with teams like Ferrari and McLaren. Had Ferrari not approached his university looking for someone who was interested in F1, Stella would have had a different story to tell. It was what he learned from being with the tifosi that helped him make that big jump to join and explore McLaren. Although there was some commotion with him making the move, the Italians had received it well and accepted his decision to move to McLaren. Though the move might have been uncomfortable, Stella was embedded and accepted fully as a McLaren employee back in 2015.

The Future of McLaren and Andrea Stella’s Expectations from the Team:

As the 2023 season approaches its end, McLaren has made its mark on the grid, and both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have made their presence felt on track. Andrea Stella has indeed done a remarkable job in helping McLaren come in fourth in the constructor’s championship. Talking about the immediate future, Stella expects Lando and Oscar to recreate their 'stellar' performance in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, as they have since Silverstone.

Going into 2024 with high hopes, the team principal looks forward to working towards making McLaren a winning machine and competing with rival teams like Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari. The team will exploit every opportunity and infrastructure that helped them in 2023, like wind tunnels, simulators, manufacturing facilities, etc. He aims to bring full horsepower to the team as they welcome David Sanchez and Rob Marshall on board for next year. There are a lot of expectations from them, considering the amount of experience and resources they have behind them. Also, it would be interesting to see what McLaren does to implement the FIA’s new sustainable engine protocols in 2026.

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