Andrea Stella and continuity: what Ferrari needs to learn from McLaren’s F1 resurgence. McLaren's resurgence is also (perhaps especially) thanks to Andrea Stella.

The multi-year renewal of Andrea Stella as team principal confirms McLaren’s intention to continue along a path set years ago: the one leading to the Formula 1 world title.

McLaren’s resurgence is also (perhaps especially) thanks to Andrea Stella
The Italian engineer has been leading the team since the end of 2022, and since then, he hasn’t made a single misstep. At the beginning of his first season as team leader, the former Ferrari race engineer, who in Maranello worked with Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, made things clear right away: “We won’t have a competitive car at the start of the year, but we will come back stronger in the summer.”

And that’s exactly what happened: a perfect example of turning words into action. It all happened in the blink of an eye, suddenly, from the outside perspective; but surely it wasn’t like that in Woking.

A long process (and not yet finished)
To bring McLaren back to securing podiums, pole positions, and victories, considerable work was required from the engineers, coordinated by Andrea Stella himself. Now the goal, as stated by the team principal, is to achieve the ultimate objective: the Formula 1 world title.

The possibility of achieving this result already exists in 2024 (at least in the Constructors’ Championship, as Max Verstappen has a “comfortable” lead over Lando Norris in the Drivers’ Championship for now).

If the World Championship doesn’t come at the end of the year, the team will surely have much to regret, given the various mistakes made firsthand. Yet, regardless of how the current season ends, McLaren has identified – and applied – the fundamental concept for success in Formula 1: continuity.

“Okay, but it’s easy to maintain continuity when everything seems to be going well,” you might be thinking. You’re not wrong, but it’s certainly more challenging to find yourself in this condition thanks to past choices, and the Woking team has succeeded. The same cannot be said for other teams; isn’t that right, Ferrari? So, from opponents and F1 enthusiasts alike, there’s only one thing to say: chapeau.