Stella Praises FIA’s Efforts as McLaren Makes F1 History

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella credits FIA regulations for enabling customer teams to compete equally with factory teams in the turbo-hybrid era.

Andrea Stella, McLaren F1’s team principal, stated that becoming the first customer team to win a Formula 1 championship in the turbo-hybrid era was “not particularly satisfying.”

By claiming the Constructors’ Championship, McLaren became the first team other than Mercedes or Red Bull to secure a Formula 1 title since Brawn GP in 2009.

This achievement also marked the first turbo-hybrid era championship win for a customer team, with Mercedes once again supplying its power units to McLaren in 2021, following an earlier partnership with Honda that began in late 2014.

A power unit development freeze was introduced in 2022, preventing manufacturers from implementing performance upgrades. All customer teams are now required to use units identical to those of the primary factory team, meaning McLaren, Aston Martin, and Williams share the same hardware and software as Mercedes.

“It’s not particularly satisfying because I think today, thanks to the regulations and the good work the FIA has done, there’s parity in how the engine is used between customer teams and factory teams,” said Stella.

“To be honest, we’re quite confident that the performance of customer units matches that of the factory teams. We also have a very good relationship with Mercedes.”

“We maintain a very open dialogue, and we appreciate and acknowledge that, ultimately, Mercedes will always have the final say when it comes to design, for instance, but the dialogue with them is good.”

“We know they listen to our input. The relationship is strong, and once again, I’d like to say that the FIA has done a good job in ensuring customer teams can have opportunities to win races and championships without needing to be a factory team.”