McLaren boss names 'not satisfying' part of F1 title win as Toto Wolff left red-faced
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Andrea Stella says his McLaren team took no satisfaction from beating engine suppliers Mercedes to Formula 1 title glory. For the first time since 1998, McLaren last year finished the season at the top of the pile in the constructors' championship. They saw off the challenge from Ferrari, getting the job done on the final day of the season as Lando Norris won from pole position at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
That success ended a very long McLaren wait for teams' title glory. And it also made history as the Woking-based outfit became the first customer team in F1's hybrid era to become champion. Ending the monopoly of supplier Mercedes and Red Bull was no mean feat, but team principal Stella says it is not something from which he takes much personal satisfaction.
He said: "It's not particularly satisfying because I think nowadays, thanks to the regulations and the good work the FIA has done in terms of creating parity as to the way the engine is used between customer and works teams. "To be honest, we are pretty relaxed that the performance of the customer units is as good as the work teams and we also have a very good relationship with [Mercedes] HPP. We have a very open dialogue and we appreciate and acknowledge that ultimately it is always going to be Mercedes that will have the final say as to layout for instance, but the dialogue is good with HPP.
"We know that they are listening to our opinions, and the relationship is strong and once again, I'd like to say that this is good work that has happened by the FIA in protecting customer teams so that they could have opportunities to win races and championships without having to be a works team.".
