Stella stands firm on controversial team orders: 'No one can go alone'

The papaya-coloured team were the team to beat at the Hungaroring after locking out the front row in qualifying on Saturday. Lando Norris started on pole, but Oscar Piastri took the lead on lap 1 and led convincingly. However, after the second round of stops, Norris came in before the Australian and undercut his teammate. Piastri came in a few laps later and was then behind the Brit, unable to close the gap.

However, after pitting to cover Lewis Hamilton in P3, Norris was told to then give the position back to Piastri who had led from lap one. At first, it did not look like that would be the case, but after repeated messages on the team radio, Norris let Piastri through with three laps to go to take the win.

Stella stands firm: "We are in this trajectory together"

Speaking to Sky Sports right after the race, Stella was quizzed about the controversial team orders: "I think there was a little bit more than that single comment and message from Will [Joseph, Norris' engineer, ed.]. There's an entire approach to racing that we have with our team and drivers. We are in this trajectory together. None of us, the team, Lando, Oscar, can go alone.

"That's the message that we discussed on Sunday morning," continued Stella, unwavering in the decision that he made. "With race drivers, you need to refresh this message. That's why we have this meeting every Sunday and we are extremely pleased by how our drivers are supporting the trajectory of McLaren which is incredible, and for me, that's the news today."

However, the McLaren team boss also understands the frustration that will come from Norris after the win was taken from him: "I don't know any race driver that when he is leading a race would be happy to say, 'Oh yeah, of course, why we don't swap back the position to the previous order.' That's not possible. That's not the nature of the drivers and I would be extremely worried, very concerned if Lando would say so.

"But that's why we needed to recall our principles," finished Stella. "That's why we recall the principles on Sunday morning. I think it's true that for a driver if you want to be competitive in the championship for Lando in particular, who is in the strongest position, he will need the support of Oscar, he will need the support of the team. So I think that's how we are moving forward."