Stella hints at the factor that might turn out decisive in the Piastri-Norris battle

With McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finding themselves in a close battle for the drivers' title this year, Andrea Stella has Stella hinted at the factor that might turn out decisive in their fight in the remainder of the season.

Having ended last season by displaying dominant performance, McLaren's 2025 F1 car, the MCL39 was the first McLaren car to be fully overseen by former Red Bull chief designer Rob Marshall, and it exhibited numerous technical improvements over its predecessor.

The MCL39 displayed dominant form during pre-season testing in Bahrain, and it carried this form over into the season, with Oscar Piastri leading his team-mate Lando Norris in the drivers' championship, and the papaya outfit enjoying an enormous margin over its rivals in the teams' standings.

As of the Hungarian Grand Prix, McLaren has scored podiums in all races except the Canadian Grand Prix. Between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, McLaren achieved seven 1-2 finishes in China, Miami, Spain, Austria, Great Britain, Belgium and Hungary.

McLaren's current streak of four consecutive 1-2 finishes beginning in Austria was the first instance of such since Mercedes achieved five consecutive 1-2 finishes in 2019.

Asked what might turn out to be decisive in the Norris-Piastri battle as the season approaches its final leg, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has hinted at the consistency rather than pure speed which might play a key part in the title fight.

"First of all, we need to make sure that we as a team only play a positive part, and the positive part is to give Lando and Oscar a fast car, a car that in all conditions can fight for the win.

"We don't play a role instead in which we have reliability factors, operational problems, pit stops that may bias the allocation of points one way or the other. This is the responsibility of the team.

"When it comes to Lando and Oscar, I think this is very much to do with the execution because they are very close, and it's a matter of details in the execution from all points of view: race craft, driving, penalties, and then consistency.

"Consistency—just being good at every single event—is something that Lando and Oscar have been very good at, but I think this is going to be more and more important, especially as the finish line gets closer and closer."