Zak Brown shares how Andrea Stella keeps surprising new hires at McLaren behind the scenes

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McLaren have gone on leaps and bounds in Formula 1 in recent years, thanks to the work of team principal Andrea Stella.

The Italian joined the team in 2015 as head of race operations, joining from Ferrari alongside Fernando Alonso. He then moved on to becoming performance director in 2018 and executive director the following year, before taking the job of team principal in 2023.

Stella actually rejected McLaren’s offer to be team principal in 2018, claiming that his role back then was ‘right’ for him. But he took the job five years later, and he has been a huge factor in building McLaren back into a top team on the grid.

The Woking outfit were desperately struggling at the start of 2023, sitting as arguably the slowest car on the field. But after a dramatic upturn in development midway through the season, they suddenly became a frontrunner with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

McLaren have now consolidated themselves as the dominant force in F1, clinching the constructors’ championship in 2024 and 2025. With the help of CEO Zak Brown, Stella is looking to guide the team to their first drivers’ title since 2008.

Andrea Stella keeps surprising new hires at McLaren with how open he is with information during debriefs

McLaren have consistently talked about their way of working in 2025 and how they have worked to build a strong bond throughout the organisation. They have come a long way since near-administration back in 2018, with several sponsors and new hires coming on board.

Speaking on The High Performance Podcast, Brown shared that Stella has ‘surprised’ these new employees with how open he is during debriefs. He says it helps create ‘respect’ and trust within the team, which helps to improve performance.

“Communication, transparency, fair. And that’s what we’ve done with the racing team. I’d rather overcommunicate,” said Brown.

“We stand up and we’ve had a few people join us from other teams who were surprised at how open Andrea is with the entire racing team when we do debriefs, technical information, etc.

“We trust everyone in the racing team and to have, we got 1400 people in total, not all of those in F1, to be able to be confident and go, ‘look, you’re not letting me down if something leaves this building, but you’re letting your teammate down’.

“And so the respect everyone has for McLaren and our teammates, and the more trusting they are with us, the more trusting we are with them. And it just kind of feeds a bond, and because the more information they have, ultimately, the better they can do in their job.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Andrea Stella has an outstanding relationship with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri amid 2025 title battle

Stella had doubts that McLaren had improved enough for 2025, but he kept these thoughts a secret from Brown. He would be quickly reassured as the team showed their dominance in testing and into the season, winning 14 races out of 21 thus far.

Heading into the final three races of the season, Norris leads Piastri by 24 points. The latter had established the upper hand in the first half of 2025, but the momentum has shifted to his teammate as he struggles to find the right balance with the MCL39.

Many have accused the Woking outfit of favouring the Brit with team orders, most notably at Monza when he was given P2 after a slow pit stop. Even Max Verstappen joked that McLaren were favouring Norris, but that was mainly to create a stir with the media.

Stella says Norris and Piastri are like his ‘sons’ as he dismissed claims that one is being prioritised in the title fight. He gets on incredibly well with both of them, and he is keen to let them battle it out for the championship in the last three races.