McLaren’s policy of supporting both its drivers’ championship bids means either of them could be disadvantaged on occasions, team principal Andrea Stella acknowledged.
The team’s tactics in the Japanese Grand Prix were criticised by some after McLaren failed to get either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri in front of Max Verstappen, despite having a performance advantage over Red Bull.During the race Piastri occasionally closed in on Norris and suggested the team order them to swap positions. No instruction came; Norris insisted Piastri only gained on him when he purposefully dropped back from Verstappen to allow his tyres to recover.
Stella said the team may have to back one driver at a later stage in the season if a clear favourite emerges, as it did with Norris last year. They have also accepted it is inevitable that their policy of supporting both drivers equally could cause some dissatisfaction between them on occasions.
“There are advantages to having two extremely competitive drivers. I think the advantage in the long-term is dominant – that’s what you want, in my view.
“But there could be episodically some situations which may leave one of the two drivers a little upset because the team needed to make a decision, or because of how the race unfolded. So we are very, very aware of this.
“Internally, we don’t talk about ‘if this happens’, we talk about ‘when this happens,’ because we are aware it’s a very difficult business. We are aware as a team – and Lando and Oscar are aware as well.”
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The team’s post-race analysis of their tactics at Suzuka reinforced Stella’s view that they had no means to attack Verstappen strategically which did not involve an unacceptable amount of risk to their overall result.
“We took a good look at where the opportunities could be to win the race,” he said. “I think the opportunities, if anything, were identified in the early phase of the race where we could have potentially been more aggressive in attempting to ‘undercut’ Max.
“This would not have been executed without a significant amount of risk – going in traffic at a circuit where you have low degradation and difficulties to overtake. It could have gone pretty wrong in case of a Safety Car, and in an attempt to win, you may lose a few positions.
“So it’s the normal kind of trade-off that you have when you manage race strategy. But we need to be wary that Suzuka in 2025 wasn’t the usual Suzuka. I think many people who make comments struggled to realise that it’s a different context.”
McLaren would not approach the same race differently at a later stage in the championship when fewer points are available, according to Stella. “If we use Suzuka as an example, I don’t think we would have approached that race very differently if it was located in a different time of the season,” he said.
“Unless it’s the last race of the season and the championships are decided, then you may go for a very aggressive one and say, ‘okay, let’s try to win. It can go very wrong.’ Obviously, at the start of the season, you don’t approach things like this.
“But in general, I would like to stress that the downsides of an aggressive strategy in that case could have been quite considerable. There’s a bit of influence if you want, being at the start of the season and letting some races unfold, learn a bit more – but not substantial.”
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2025 Japanese Grand Prix
- McLaren has to accept upsetting either of its drivers sometimes – Stella
- Verstappen ‘can test our car, I look forward to seeing his disappointment’ – Norris
- Verstappen insists McLaren domination claim was ‘no joke’ after Piastri’s doubt
- Extra mandatory pit stop won’t create more passing at tracks like Suzuka – Sainz
- Mercedes took note of Verstappen’s out-lap tactics after stunning Suzuka pole position
An Sionnach
12th April 2025, 10:03
Oh, come on! Could have gone for the undercut, but there was risk? I don’t see any risk for Norris in traffic other than potentially ending up behind Piastri. Most of them would be following a similar pessimistic strategy decided by their engineers and would do little to resist a faster Norris.
I’m starting to lean more towards the Piastri camp, but he’ll have to pass Norris on track and dispense with McLaren’s rules. Norris is quick, but Piastri wants to win.
Chris (@austin-healey)
12th April 2025, 11:50
The Mark Weber clause is real in Oscar’s contract.
No ignoring Multi 21.
Jungle
12th April 2025, 11:55
No doubt
CarWars (@maxv)
12th April 2025, 13:39
In the beginning this was maybe good thing for Piastri, but if he gets to be leading more in the points over Lando this rule will not be in his favor as McLaren cant make up their mind and priortize drivers. They should have last year to give it all to Lando, would have given him a bit more edge, maybe a bit more security and would have put more pressure on Max, who was starting to do desperate things. Maximize everything in your favor, it’s what they do for Max..
Chris (@austin-healey)
12th April 2025, 11:51
But until then, Manufacturers outweighs Drivers
Unlike RB.
CarWars (@maxv)
12th April 2025, 13:48
If that were true they would have done a strategy that would have won with one driver, risking the other to be 3rd. But they didn’t do that either. They seem to be more concerned with treating drivers equal. That can be fair enough but then they don’t care about wining for the team i guess.
Dex
12th April 2025, 13:13
I don’t see a reason for Piastri to play the game. He’s got a contract, and he’s got other options if they decide to sack him. At least that’s a simplistic view which I wish it was the realistic one too.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
12th April 2025, 14:24
I get McLaren on this one. They made some poor choices last season. But I see it more as them playing the long game. 2nd and 3rd is a lot of points. They know they have the fastest car, the pack was so tightly bunched. Take the 32 points rather than watch Lando fail to get past someone and complain on the radio.
Max out qualified them, where it’s near impossible to overtake (unless you’re Kobayashi). They took a big bag of points which come round 18 everyone will have forgotten about. Risking going for the win, is not really worth it, from the position they’re in.
Supposedly the 10-6 points system was changed to slow down Schumacher. McLaren know they can beat Max over a season (most likely). Grab gold coins whilst they’re there. Ending up in 5th and worrying about Antonelli was doing wasn’t really worth it, come the end of the year.
Dusty
12th April 2025, 15:19
They ensured neither driver would win. Equal treatment is the main objective, so a successful weekend indeed.
This time the advantage is large enough to park the cars and have a team meeting to decide the winner, buf the real win us nit hurting anyone’s feelings.
Dusty
12th April 2025, 15:21
Wow my keyboard was overheating and I messed up that last sentence completely
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
12th April 2025, 16:51
McLaren is clearly supporting NOR ahead of PIA. See last race. The shame is that NOR might win if he has the best car, might being the key word. PIA is a better driver and might win with the 2nd best car in the grid. VER will win in the best car and probably will win in a top 3 car and possible a top 4 car.