McLaren boss Andrea Stella has faith that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will not be selfish and put their own eagerness to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ahead of the team’s constructors’ championship ambitions.
The Woking-based squad stands on the cusp of its first teams' title since 1998 in the F1 season finale, as it holds a 21-points advantage over Ferrari. A victory at the Yas Marina will secure it the crown.
But after locking out the front row of the grid, the team is mindful about the complications that could come from its driver pairing fighting it out too much for the win.
And it is not shying away from the scenario that any clash could then open the door for third-placed Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz to capitalise and take a victory that would give Scuderia the crown.
Stella says he is fully “aware” of the need to manage the situation between the drivers, especially after a season where it has faced angst about the imposition of team orders at various stages of the campaign.
But while things have not always been executed perfectly between Norris and Piastri this year, Stella has faith that the pair will handle things differently this time out because they know the ultimate value to everyone at McLaren of the constructors’ title.
“When we deal with drivers, we always need to be very conscious that they are wired to win races,” said Stella.
“They grow from karting thinking like that. They always think like that, and then at some stage in their career, you tell them, like, 'Oh no, here is not about you guys winning. Here is about the team winning.'
“So first of all, awareness. We are very aware. During the season, we already had a conversation, more than one conversation with our two drivers, and we said to them that this is the only situation in which the interests of us three is not the same.
“So we cannot face something just staying totally united because the two drivers: each of them wants to win.”
Stella says that while the squad will need to carefully consider what kind of team orders to impose on its drivers today to ensure it does not slip up, he thinks both of them understand well themselves what is at stake today and why a different approach is needed.
“Anytime we had this conversation, I was always very positively surprised by how easy it was to get the point across,” he added.
“The first interest is the team, and this will be the same conversation [on Sunday morning]. We have the launch, we have the first corner, the first lap, all situations for which we will have the best possible preparation.
“Sometimes in reality, when it's about close racing, you cannot be too prescriptive, because drivers actually may feel the safest just following the instinct.
“But what's important is that you programme the instinct with a clear objective, and the objective tomorrow is to bring the championship home.
“And I have to say that when I talked with Oscar and Lando as well, they both thought that for where we are in our and in their careers, and in the journey with McLaren, the constructors’ championship is actually what they care [about] the most.”
Ferrari must stop McLaren winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix if it is to have any hope of securing the constructors’ championship itself – which means it needs to go on the attack.
That opens up a danger for McLaren in perhaps approaching things from a too conservative mindset which then could risk it leaving the door open for its rival.
Asked about the approach it was taking, Stella said that it was important McLaren did not get complacent about things.
“I think we should approach the race like we have approached the weekend, by repeating to ourselves that we will just keep doing what we have done before,” explained Stella. “And this is true even in the race.
“I think if you start to hesitate, you can make the wrong decisions. And so far, I have to say that the team have been pretty cool, pretty chill, calm, focused.
“Even during the qualifying, no one really held back anything. Like you could see with Oscar. He went into Q3 and he went for it, and he was on the limit of lap deletion that which then was restated.
“So obviously, we will have some words of caution, but in fairness, we would like very much to win the race. So that will be the objective, and I think it's also the safest way to make sure that we gain the points that we need to for the championship.”
