Andrea Stella reveals what he ‘never told’ Zak Brown about McLaren’s car for the 2025 F1 season

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McLaren arrived at the opening race of the 2025 F1 season with clearly the fastest car on the grid, but Andrea Stella has revealed what he kept secret from Zak Brown during the MCL39’s development.

The British constructor clinched a second consecutive constructors’ championship at the Singapore Grand Prix, marking the first time that they went back-to-back for the teams’ title since their four-peat beginning in 1988.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri dominated the opening half of the campaign, winning all but three Grands Prix as they took a commanding lead in the constructors’ championship and built a sizeable gap to Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings.

However, according to McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, things weren’t as rosy as they seemed during the Woking-based racing outfit’s development of the 2025 challenger.

READ MORE: Andrea Stella names one area where Lando Norris is ‘definitely’ better than Oscar Piastri at McLaren

Andrea Stella didn’t tell Zak Brown that he wasn’t sure if McLaren had made enough improvements ahead of the 2025 F1 season

Speaking on an episode of the Beyond the Grid podcast, Stella revealed how he kept McLaren Group CEO Zak Brown in the dark over his premature assessment of McLaren’s MCL39 before it had hit the track for pre-season testing.

The Italian team principal began by hailing his engineers for their work in the off-season, saying, “The team elevated their game, I would say, first of all.

“From an engineering point of view, I already said that the bravery, from a technical perspective, that went into the 2025 car, was a remarkable step forward. 

“In Mexico, we have seen the benefit through the innovation we introduced in the cooling system. There have been some decisions to innovate the front suspension, the rear suspension. Some of them really challenged our knowledge.”

Stella then noted how he wasn’t convinced by the improvements that were proposed at the time, but kept his feelings to himself due to a ‘fundamental ethos’ of the Woking-based racing outfit.

He continued, “I say sometimes internally, that now I can say that over the winter, I wasn’t necessarily, completely calm that we had just not gone too far, in terms of the innovation.

“I never told Zak that that was the case. I always told Zak, ‘Don’t worry, it’s all under control.’ The car is a reflection of the team.

“I think the team, each and every one, have embraced it to make a little step forward in terms of being better than the year before. Everyone in their own area, which is part of our fundamental ethos. 

“And then I think the drivers are better. Oscar has grown enormously, from where he was last year, and Lando has developed as well, and I think we have benefited from these years of overall general growth in being able to achieve the championship with six races to go.”

READ MORE: F1 paddock insider suspects Oscar Piastri is ‘looking around’ for a new team after what he’s seen

Andrea Stella and Zak Brown have had to make some difficult decisions as the 2025 F1 season has progressed

McLaren’s leading figures of Brown and Stella have been under fire for a multitude of decisions that have been made during Norris and Piastri’s intense battle for a maiden drivers’ championship.

Team orders, or papaya-rules as they’re known by in the McLaren ranks, have been a key factor in the narrative of how the title fight has panned out, and fans have recently voiced their frustrations.

Norris’ win in Mexico City was overshadowed by boos that rang around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as he stepped up to do his post-race interview.

Fans in attendance felt like the British constructor was favouring the 25-year-old in his quest for a title, whilst leaving Piastri short on some occasions.

However, the theory has since been debunked by former F1 driver turned pundit, Ralf Schumacher.

A ‘reliable source’ assured Schumacher that there was no favouritism within McLaren, and that the team are dead set on letting their championship protagonists battle it out between themselves for glory.

The one rule they have is simple: don’t crash into each other.