Andrea Stella believes McLaren showed strength in adversity after Oscar Piastri was hit by Max Verstappen at the start of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
McLaren‘s Constructors’ Championship win looked briefly in danger as Piastri dropped down the order after a move from Verstappen at Turn 1 both drivers spun out.
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With Piastri crashing down the order after being spun by Verstappen – a move for which the Dutch driver was penalized by the stewards – it made McLaren’s constructors’ championship look more difficult as the Ferrari drivers pursued Lando Norris.
The British driver held the lead from pole position, with the points win enough to see off Ferrari’s bid as Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc circled second and third – had Sainz managed to clear Norris, it would have won Ferrari the title.
Taking Piastri out of contention meant McLaren’s position was not as comfortable as the Woking-based squad had hoped going into the race, leading the Australian to sarcastically label Verstappen’s overtaking attempt as “the move of a world champion.”
After the checkered flag, team principal Andrea Stella said he was proud of how McLaren showed strength in adversity after the move from Verstappen, which he called “unnecessary”.
Asked by PlanetF1.com if he felt the racing gods were conspiring against his team after Piastri’s incident with Verstappen, Stella said: “The first thought I had after checking corner one is that it felt unnecessary.
“When you have teams fighting for the championship, that’s the highlight, it’s time to reap the efforts of a season, and it felt a little unnecessary.”
Stella was beaming with pride as McLaren won its first constructors’ championship since 1998 and said the team had responded with conviction to the deteriorating circumstances they faced.
“Sometimes adversity gives you the opportunity to show your strengths and I think that’s exactly what happened,” he said.
“First of all, because Oscar never gave up and he came back to make a point that could have been very important. If not, the two points that could have been decisive in a change between Carlos and Lando.
“Lando showed his strengths, delivered a perfect weekend and a perfect race when all the pressure was on him and he kept very calm on the radio.
“He considered some hard options that we gave him, like when we said you’re going to throw in the event of a safety car or not for a new set.
“So I think we saw Lando at his best and his best is just incredibly competitive. I can’t wait to see Lando and Oscar in the future with a competitive car right from race one.
“For me, if anything, the opportunity to show the strengths was in the last pit stop. The whole season was in the last pit stop.
“One problem at the pit stop and we could have lost the position to Carlos and we could have lost the championship. The guys delivered what I think is one of the best pit stops of the season, which validates the track which was not just car performance but the maturity, mentality and emotional resilience of the whole team.
“So, all of this somehow got the opportunity to show thanks to the accident in corner one. But hopefully in the future we don’t need setbacks – we can just have a faster car and just be safer and not be in a decisive race at the last races of the season.”
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Piastri’s recovery back into the points was also crucial, Stella explained, with McLaren fearful of a late Safety Car which may have left Norris under threat from Sainz.
“We were aware and that’s why we pushed very hard with Oscar to make sure we could get P9 because the two points would have been fundamental,” he said.
“We were definitely nervous because not only were the back markers a problem but the Safety Car would have been a problem because Carlos could have done the opposite of what we’re doing.
“So, if we didn’t dip, he could have gone on new tires and that would have been a problem. If we had pitted, he would have taken the lead and we should have overtaken him.
“So we were definitely nervous about this happening, not so much about the back markers. It’s expected that you lose a bit of grip behind the back markers but this is not a track where there’s a lot of room to overtake the back markers.
“At that stage Lando had built a good gap to Carlos – which was good to see by the way, because in the first stint I don’t think there was much to choose in terms of performance between Ferrari and McLaren.
“But on the harder compounds, which has often happened this season, Lando was the fastest car on the track and this meant we had a safety buffer.”
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