McLaren trio – Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Andrea Stella – reflect on F1 constructors’ championship victory, as they realise dream after years of pain.
It hasn’t been easy for McLaren in the years gone by. Despite some push, they couldn’t get things right on track and had to make changes which included departures of Daniel Ricciardo, Andreas Seidl and James Key, among others, for Piastri and Stella to step up to the task.
A bold choice from Zak Brown and McLaren shareholders to promote Stella to team principal role after Seidl’s departure worked wonders as they started to challenge for podiums soon enough. The technical department kept on increasing as well, which added to the flavour.
The title never looked to be happening at the start of the 2024 F1 season, but their crucial update in Miami delivered when it mattered. It was the time when Red Bull faltered and McLaren gained momentum to not only beat them but also Ferrari eventually by the end of it.
Stella stressed on unlocking the people for the result that they have achieved after attaining a full circle from the team he joined back in 2015. He also noted on the time they gained from then and now, which is also down to the regulations but their own car has developed in leaps and bounds too.
For Piastri, it is a title win in only his second F1 season. After winning championships in his junior career, the Australian has one in the pinnacle too, even though it is a teams’ one. Norris, meanwhile, finally got one with McLaren, with whom he has been racing for so long and even finished second in the drivers’.
Title win –
Norris: “Yeah, I mean, I’m very, very happy. Just as I’m sure everyone in the team is. Today was a very special day for all of us. It was ours to lose today and I’m sure at certain moments people thought that it was not far away from being lost. You know, two Ferraris up there and Charles doing a great job to get back to the podium. Oscar was super unlucky. He got taken out in Turn 1. So for a minute, my heart was like, ‘oh God, it’s not looking as likely’. But if I just kept my head down and kept focused, I knew I could deliver and do what I got to do. That’s that, but the bigger picture of us winning a championship for the first time in 26 years, you wouldn’t have thought that when you say the name McLaren.
“It feels wrong to say that they’ve not won a championship in 26 years. But for me to be part of that, for Oscar to be part of it, is something we’re incredibly proud of. And delivering that for the team has put the biggest smile as possible on everyone’s face. This is the biggest reward you can give back to everyone who designs the car, builds the car, gets the partners. Everyone has played such a big part, so just proud. Proud is my biggest thing. Of course, I’m happy I finished the season this way, but I’m way more happy for the team than I am for myself.”
Piastri: “I am sure it will take a little bit to sink in, as my own personal victories often take time to sink in, the junior championships I have won, it sometimes takes days or weeks later. I am sure this is going to be a similar thing. My ribs are healed up now, but I might stay away from Zak in case he hugs me pretty tight. I am sure once I go back and see everybody, it will start to sink in, once we see everybody in the factory and see the smiles on everyone’s faces it will really start to sink in.
“As drivers, obviously we have our eyes firmly set on becoming drivers’ world champions but it is also very clear how much the constructors’ championship means and when we get to celebrate that with the hundreds and thousands of people back at McLaren together with Mercedes HPP, that’s when it will really sink in and the sense of pride will be there.”
Stella: “Definitely the time I joined McLaren means that…I am now in 2024 at the end of the season celebrating a champions means if you want that we have almost gone through a circle. I often mention to the team the fact that first race in 2015 in Australia, between our lap in Q1 and the pole position there were five seconds and three seconds to the best lap in Q1. We have gone all the way. And we have gone all the way thanks to great resilience, thanks to great belief. I would like to thank in particular Zak Brown, Paul Walsh, all our shareholders for their faith in the change, faith in the change that gradually they have implemented and put McLaren in a very solid position from a management point of view.
“When you are solid from a management point of view, when you are trusted, when you start to be able to deliver the investments that were necessary then you can compete and you can compete at the top. I think the final bit of this circle if you want came through the people. Unlocking the people which is something that I’ve said several times. I’m not sure if it’s something that… who listens can actually appreciate what it means, if you are not part of seeing such a rapid progress of 1000 people. But that’s what has happened because you cannot achieve these standards, this performance, these operations, this reliability without every one of the 1000 people operating at very high level. That’s what we have gone through in these 10 years at McLaren but hopefully this is not an end point, this is just a starting point for more to come in the future.”
P2 in drivers’ sealed –
Norris: “I don’t believe in a lot of things, but I think the one thing I’ve learned this year is probably to believe in myself a bit more. I’ve certainly not come out on top as often as I would have liked in certain moments as a driver, you know, especially in my fights against Max. As much as it hurts sometimes, I’m probably happy about it now that I’m going to go into next season knowing that I can fight. And I know myself, and I know more and better than anyone what I need to improve on, where I’m not strong enough, where I’m strong enough. You know, I’m always open for criticism, things like that. But I’m the one who knows better than the others, right? So not in an arrogant way or a selfish way, but I know that I have to improve in a lot of areas and certain things.
“And I feel like I’ve already done that quite a lot in the last three, four, five races. I feel like I’ve delivered some very strong results. But on the whole, next year is hopefully a year where I can go in and decide before the first race we’re going to fight for a championship. We’ve not ever thought of that. We’ve not even had the feeling of it from a team perspective and also for me as a driver. So hopefully the next year is that year. And we obviously have a lot of work to do. And Ferrari are going to be pushing a lot. But that’s another year. For now, I’m just going to celebrate with my team tonight and celebrate what they deserve.”
Here’s Oscar Piastri fine with Max Verstappen
Here’s McLaren, Ferrari on Abu Dhabi GP title fight
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