Andrea Stella pinpoints the biggest difference between McLaren and Ferrari as he closes on 2025 title

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McLaren are likely to win the 2025 constructors’ championship at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. They only need to outscore their rivals by nine points.

McLaren, who have a giant 337-point advantage over Ferrari, have built their lead by an average of 19.8 points per weekend. Even a below-par performance may be enough to seal their coronation.

Ferrari finished just 14 behind McLaren last season, taking the fight all the way to the finale in Abu Dhabi. The consensus at the start of the year was that the top four teams were all in contention.

But McLaren have made a mockery of pre-season expectations by producing one of the most dominant seasons ever. Ferrari may be second in the standings, but are arguably the biggest disappointment of the year given the winter fanfare.

Andrea Stella details the unique pressure Ferrari employees face

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has worked for both teams. The Italian spent 14 years at Ferrari before his 2015 switch to Woking.

Stella occupied a number of senior engineering roles before becoming team principal in 2023. He sees some key similarities between the two iconic outfits.

They both hold themselves to ‘the highest standards’ and receive ‘a lot of attention’ from outside. Indeed, Stella spent most of Friday’s team principals’ press conference addressing questions over McLaren’s Monza team orders controversy.

But what makes Ferrari unique is that they are the ‘motorsport national team’ for Italy. And that expectation is a challenge every team member has to ‘cope’ with.

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“Certainly both teams – like every team in Formula 1 – are characterised by trying to select the best people, trying to pursue the highest standards,” he said.

“Definitely, the saying that at Ferrari you may have quite a lot of external pressure coming from the media, from the attention you receive – it’s like the motorsport national team – let me say, this is true, and definitely you have to cope with that.

“But at the same time, at McLaren, I have to say that you receive quite a lot of attention. And we were receiving a lot of attention when we were last, and we are receiving a lot of attention now.

“Today, we’ve been discussing Monza for quite a while. So, many more similarities than differences, for what I could have experienced.”

Andrea Stella isn’t the only ex-Ferrari engineer thriving in Formula 1

McLaren are about to retain the title for the first time since 1991. Ron Dennis was the team boss when they achieved that feat, but now Stella will join him in history.

Stella signed a new contract in the summer of last year and may now be the most valued team principal in F1. Laurent Mekies is hoping to achieve similar success at Red Bull.

The Frenchman, formerly the racing director at Ferrari, joined the team from Racing Bulls earlier this season. Mekies is already winning praise after spotting weaknesses in their operation and delivering a first Grand Prix win in Monza with the help of Max Verstappen.

As Ferrari try to end a title drought that stretches back to 2008, they will be going up against two of their own alumni.