The Woking-based team caused a stir at the British Grand Prix as a major upgrade package helped Lando Norris emerge as Max Verstappen’s main threat for the race victory, with the McLaren driver second and team-mate Oscar Piastri fourth.
That star performance came in the wake of a disappointing start to the 2023 campaign for McLaren, which confessed on the eve of the season that its launch-spec car was not as quick as it would have liked.
But a technical restructure at the outfit, and a solid development plan to revamp the MCL-60, has helped lift Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri from being backmarkers to challenging right at the front.
While Stella, who stepped into the team principal role over the winter following the departure of Andreas Seidl, has been instrumental in plotting McLaren’s recovery, he remains humble about his own contribution.
And rather than wanting to take too much credit for what he has done, he thinks it important that others who have played a part in the turnaround should get praise.
“You know, for me, my focus is just doing the right things,” he said. “Just focus on performance, focus on creating a vision for the team, making sure that everyone understands what the vision is, and what the direction is.
“The most important thing is that you don't do these things alone. I've been very, very well supported. And even the collaboration with Zak [Brown, CEO] has been incredibly close and strategic.
“It will be a mistake to say, ‘I’, or ‘you’. It's a group work, even when it comes to the leadership. An F1 team is too complex to think that somebody alone can turn a situation around and recognise the people that should be part of this journey.”
Source: Autosport