McLaren happy for F1 rivals to lose focus by creating ‘sagas’
McLaren are happy for their F1 rivals to focus on the wrong parts of their 2025 car.
Andrea Stella says he hopes McLaren’s F1 rivals continue to focus on the wrong things by creating “sagas” regarding the performance of his team.
A dominant start to the 2025 season from the reigning world champions has raised suspicion among rivals that McLaren could be using untoward tactics to boost their competitiveness.
Specifically, accusations have been levelled at McLaren suggesting they have been illegally using water to cool their tyres and help keep them in an ideal operating window during races. McLaren have also faced claims about flexi-wings.
McLaren have won five of the opening six races and claimed a dominant 1-2 last time out in Miami to extend their advantage in both world championships.
Following the Miami Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri’s race-winning car was subject to FIA checks which found his MCL39 to be in conformance with the regulations relating to liquid cooling of brakes.
“For us, it’s good news when our rivals get their focus, rather than on themselves, onto some of the aspects that allegedly are present in our car,” McLaren team principal Stella said on Friday ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
“Certainly, even if they were [present] like flexi-wings, like the front wing deflection that everyone has, it has nothing to do why the reason McLaren is very competitive.
“I hope that in the future there will be more of these kind of sagas because it means that our rivals keep focusing on the wrong things and this is for us good news and helping our quest.”
McLaren tight-lipped about advantage
Asked if there is no ‘magic-bullet’ answer for McLaren’s tyre management superiority which has been the focus of rival claims, Stella responded: “I would like to give the wrong answer here so that I put all our rivals down the wrong route.
“The only thing I can say is that for me, in all my years in Formula 1, I’ve learnt that you have to focus on yourself and the fundamentals.
“I think when you get too distracted by what the others are doing, that’s normally an alarm bell that should ring in your factory and should remind you to go back to basics.
“I’m afraid I’ve given the right answer so I’ve helped now my competitors. I’m intellectually honest, so I can’t really give the wrong answer tactically.”
Piastri headed a McLaren 1-2 ahead of teammate Lando Norris in opening practice at Imola on Friday.
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