\u201cHe was the first person that I consulted and to me it was very clear that whatever I was going to build, I was going to build it with Gil.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t meant for them to celebrate success together. De Ferran, who worked at McLaren as sporting director and then became an advisor, passed away at the end of December 2023, a year into Stella\u2019s tenure as the team\u2019s principal.<\/p>\n
\u201cGil has always been on my side, he was my advisor, my personal consultant and if we implemented a culture, if we created the belief, if we increased the standards to the level that was required then this is also because Gil was part of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Andrea](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1759730245_788_andrea-stella-mclaren.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Andrea Stella, McLaren<\/p>\n
Photo by: Zak Mauger \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to cast Stella as the instrumental figure in McLaren\u2019s rebirth since then. When Andrea took over, the team started a new season with one of the slowest cars on the grid and briefly scraped the bottom of the constructors\u2019 standings.<\/p>\n
Then came an incredible series of upgrades \u2013 the restructured technical department delivering big steps one after another. Whenever McLaren brought something to the track, it was not just a significant step but a giant leap forward.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s reactive world, it\u2019s tempting to draw a straight line: Stella is the difference.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a statement he would disagree with \u2013 strongly. And it\u2019s simply too neat an explanation. If you had to single out one element of McLaren\u2019s success in recent years, it shouldn\u2019t be Stella himself. It\u2019s the team culture he helped build \u2013 even if that sounds a bit pompous or over-the-top. It\u2019s the team\u2019s values, its mindset, its spirit, after all. Even if the tip of that culture \u2013 the now-infamous \u201cpapaya rules\u201d \u2013 has taken on a slightly cartoonish image by now.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s inevitable McLaren will keep being criticised for how it\u2019s handling the title fight. The \u201cteam-first\u201d approach may be great for McLaren, but it\u2019s far less exciting for those watching than team-mates going to war for the biggest prize \u2013 banging wheels, pushing each other off track, firing shots in the media, splitting the garage into two camps, hiding telemetry, maybe even spoiling each other\u2019s qualifying runs by lingering in the pit box.<\/p>\n
![\"Lando](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1759730245_183_lando-norris-mclaren-oscar-pia.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren<\/p>\n
Photo by: Sam Bloxham \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n
It\u2019s inevitable the media \u2013 including the kind called \u201csocial,\u201d for some reason \u2013 will demand that McLaren let Lando Norris<\/a> and Oscar Piastri<\/a> off the leash and fight without rules of any colour. It\u2019s inevitable that every tiny spark will be fanned into flames \u2013 a spiky radio message, a slightly slow stop. We can all keep telling McLaren to even stop trying to control it \u2013 because the championship pressure will blow it up anyway. But Stella won\u2019t buy it. And you have to respect how consistent and insistent he is about staying true to the team\u2019s values.<\/p>\n It\u2019s admirable how calmly and effortlessly he swats away any attempts at external interference in McLaren\u2019s business.<\/p>\n It has even become a ritual. Every time he faces the media after qualifying or the race, he sits behind a table full of recording devices and spends a minute or two rearranging them into a neat grid \u2013 so much so that journalists now come to these briefings trying to pre-align their phones and other, now slightly old-fashioned, devices. He\u2019ll still tidy a few imperfections, cracking a joke as he goes, and then answer questions of varying sharpness in the voice of a university professor addressing students.<\/p>\n Oscar\u2019s radio messages? No, not an issue, he says \u2013 quite the opposite. That\u2019s exactly what the team asks of its members, drivers included: speak up, raise questions, open the discussion. It\u2019s not Piastri raising his voice in defiance \u2013 it\u2019s him doing exactly the right thing, according to the team\u2019s values.<\/p>\n That was consistent with what Stella said after Silverstone too, when the Australian asked whether the team would consider a swap on track because of an unfair penalty.<\/p>\n Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren<\/p>\n Photo by: Sam Bagnall \/ Sutton Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n I may disagree with what happened in Monza. You may disagree with the way McLaren handled Hungary last year. Anyone with a funny nickname on any social platform may mock its approach. Yet it will always \u2013 Stella calmly insists \u2013 be McLaren\u2019s decision on how to proceed. And that decision will always come after they \u201ctalk openly\u201d and \u201clearn\u201d in order to \u201cbecome stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n As boring and unspectacular as that mantra can sound, it\u2019s also commendable. Because it may well be the single element that makes this group of people \u2013 the ones Stella always calls \u201cthe men and women at McLaren\u201d \u2013 so strong and successful. Not Stella alone.<\/p>\n One may still disapprove of the methods and the way McLaren controls its drivers \u2013 to the point they seem almost deprived of the right to elaborate on their vocal radio messages when out of the car, facing recording devices themselves.<\/p>\n Yet one thing matters most: the result. McLaren haven\u2019t just won a second world championship in a row; they\u2019ve done it this year with six rounds to spare. And one of their team members will almost inevitably be crowned drivers\u2019 champion as well.<\/p>\n Gil is surely proud.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n We want your opinion!<\/p>\n What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?<\/p>\n![\"Lando](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1759730245_477_lando-norris-mclaren-oscar-pia.jpg\")
<\/p>\n