Everything Andrea Stella said in McLaren F1 team order grilling

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella has been quizzed about his side’s controversial driver swap at the Italian Grand Prix.

The British squad’s use of team orders have been put under scrutiny after McLaren instructed Oscar Piastri to give second place back to teammate and title rival Lando Norris when a slow pit stop dropped him behind.

After reviewing the situation after the race at Monza, McLaren have since clarified their stance on going racing for the remainder of the 2025 F1 season.

McLaren’s driver swap has dominated chatter in the F1 paddock in the build up to this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Stella facing a grilling on the topic during Friday’s FIA team representatives press conference.

Here’s everything the Italian said…

Andrea Stella explains McLaren’s stance

The first question faced by Stella was if McLaren had been surprised by the amount of noise surrounding their use of team orders.

“No not surprised really,” Stella replied. “I think noise around a racing situation is natural. Formula 1 is a very popular sport.

"What’s important for us is that comments are respectful and when they are respectful, we welcome, we listen, we take them into account, even if ultimately what counts for us is not the external noise but what we make of it internally and how we set ourselves to keep going racing.”

McLaren have their first opportunity to wrap up the constructors’ championship this weekend in Baku. Stella insisted that McLaren successfully defending their crown will not change their approach to the drivers’ title battle.

“No the approach to the drivers’ title will not change,” he stated. “This is not dependent on the constructors’, the way we go racing is dependent on the racing principles, on the value that we embody at McLaren Racing.

“Also it’s a reflection of the fact that we want to protect the unity of the team, which is a foundational condition for the future.”

Has anything changed at McLaren?

Asked whether anything in McLaren’s ‘papaya rules’ of racing conduct had changed, Stella responded: “Like after every race weekend, we review how we operate, the decisions we make.

“We did the same after Monza and we could confirm that the way we operated is what we intended. That’s what we can confirm for the future. While we remain open and attentive to anything that happens, I think that situation gave us the possibility to confirm our approach.”

Stella initially evaded directly answering whether McLaren had been “too orchestrated” in how they managed things at Monza.

“Racing situations are definitely susceptible to different interpretations, so we are comfortable with the noise, with the comments, we welcome the comments,” Stella stressed.

“What’s important is that they always remain respectful. Respect is a very important value for McLaren Racing and I’m sure for everyone. So no surprise around the noise.”

When pressed again if McLaren were “too orchestrated” in their approach, Stella replied: “From the pitwall we execute what we agree with our drivers, which ultimately becomes our racing principles and approach.

“In that situation, because we sequenced the two cars in a certain way at the pit stop, going with the car behind, then we required a swap because this compounded with the slow stop, led to the swap.

“But this situation we had in terms of the sequence of pit stop is the same as Hungary, and we acted consistently with the situation we had in Hungary.”