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Stella sees issue with clear number one from experience: 'Backfired'
Following the Italian Grand Prix, McLaren were criticised heavily for first allowing Oscar Piastri to race Lando Norris into Turn 4 on Lap 1, and then for not asking the two to swap positions on the final lap, so as to help Norris gain more points on Verstappen in the drivers' standings. According to the Italian team principal, based on his experience, having a clear number one could set the team back also.
Stella's experience with having a number one driver
Before joining McLaren, thanks to Fernando Alonso's move to the British team, Andrea Stella worked together with the Spaniard at Ferrari. "I think even with Ferrari, when there was a successful driver, the successful driver was successful because he was gaining the success on track. I think even in the cases in which there was a blatant support from one of the drivers, actually I'm not sure that it wasn't something that actually backfired," the Italian told GPblog and other media his experience at his former team in Monza.
Stella was also first Kimi Räikkönen's, then Alonso's race engineer at the time, when for example, the famous line was told Felipe Massa over the team radio: "Fernando is faster than you".
The Italian team principal then continued: "So that's why I think this thing needs to approach with common sense, needs to approach with racing values and needs to be approached with the support of both drivers. If one of the two drivers doesn't accept that we have a certain way of going racing, we're not going to succeed."
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