McLaren group principal Andrea Stella believes the Ferrari-esque tradition on the group helps it compete for the constructors’ title heading into the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Having not received the group championship since 1998, McLaren can finish that barren run on the Yas Marina Circuit, the place it heads into the grand prix weekend 21 factors away from Ferrari.
Lando Norris is second within the drivers’ championship, having pushed four-time winner Max Verstappen additional than anybody else this yr however the group has had its eye on the constructors’ prize all season.
Taking the crown would seal a exceptional turnaround for McLaren, which completed a distant fourth within the standings final yr.
Stella, a former efficiency and race engineer at Ferrari, was requested what the principle variations are between the 2 squads – however the Italian as a substitute targeted on what he noticed because the shared cultures.
“[It is an] Fascinating query, as a result of once we speak about tradition, there’s many angles, many elements you can contemplate to outline the tradition,” he mentioned forward of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“However really, earlier than we speak concerning the variations, I’d say that there are some fundamentals which might be very, very related. The dedication of the folks, the eagerness.
“Typically I hear like the eagerness within the Italian group and extra of a chilly method [here], which I can positively say that is not true.”
Andrea Stella, Crew Principal, McLaren F1 Crew, within the Crew Principals Press Convention
Photograph by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Pictures
Stella beforehand labored alongside world champions Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari and was a part of Scuderia when it final received the constructors’ title in 2008.
“The motivation, the eagerness that now we have within the McLaren group is unquestionably comparable with what I used to be used to after I was at Ferrari,” he mentioned.
“Striving for excellence is one thing that’s in widespread. It is a simple dialog to have with folks saying we have to elevate the bar and everybody understands and everybody tries their finest. So really for me, shifting from one group to the opposite, I did not should suppose another way.
“I feel what I’ve positively discovered that was very highly effective at McLaren was that once we had settlement, once we recognized widespread options, once we put in place some form of, let’s name it, guidelines, behaviours, or what altogether, ideas, that may type the tradition, then I feel the group members, the folks have been fairly constant in sticking with what was agreed.
“And on this sense, this made progress straightforward. It was potential to progress primarily based on plans. It was potential to progress primarily based on what we agreed all collectively that ought to have been the journey of the group.”
Pictures from Abu Dhabi GP Apply
Learn Additionally:
On this article
Mark Mann-Bryans
System 1
Ferrari
McLaren
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