McLaren Boss Andrea Stella Reacts To "Nerve-Wracking" Oscar Piastri Battle With Lando Norris

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has conceded the battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the first lap of the Formula 1 title decider was "nerve-wracking".

But the Italian insisted that both drivers had been prepared ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and that the fight had gone "according to plan."

Norris entered the weekend knowing a podium finish would suffice to secure a maiden F1 drivers' title, and the Briton qualified second at Yas Marina, sandwiched between title rivals Max Verstappen, who was on pole for Red Bull, and McLaren teammate Piastri.

Stella on "safe" pass

Fearless 💪

Here's that brilliant pass from Oscar! #F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/1EZQ4s5VB2
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 7, 2025

All three made it through the first corner without drama, an improvement on 2024, when Piastri and Verstappen tangled, but a nail-biting moment was to come.

Running an alternate strategy and starting on hard tires, Piastri pulled off a sublime overtake around the outside of Norris at Turn 9 to take second, a position he would keep until the end of the race.

Addressing the move when speaking to Sky Sports UK after Norris' title was confirmed with a third-place finish, Stella explained: "There had been more than one conversation with our drivers.

"We knew in the first lap there could be a swap of positions or, like Oscar did, have the opportunity to pass. We didn't want to prevent it but we said even more than normal to just play very safe.

"It was a very safe manoeuvre.

"It was also interesting as a racing situation to let Oscar go with the hard tires to try and chase Max, this was to some extent in the interest of Lando. So it was always a little nerve-wracking but actually, there was a lot of preparation on how we should concuct ourselves in these kinds of manoeuvres so I would say it went according to the plan."

Piastri ended up running deep into the race to try and effect a change with Verstappen late on, but was scuppered by the Red Bull driver's strong pace.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Abu Dhabi 2025 — McLaren Racing

Asked whether the hard was stronger than anticipated, Stella replied: "We expected the hard tire to be the better tire.

"We saw that we didn't press the hard tires [early in the weekend] because we wanted to save them for the race and thankfully so. We knew at some stage that the medium tires would grain but Max did a very good job of running very long with great pace.

"It confirms that in the second part of the season, Max and Red Bull have been from a performance point of view very strong, this has raised the bar in terms of the challenge we needed to face to try and win the drivers' championship.

"This was a good battle on-track and I am very thankful and grateful to the whole team that we actually ended up winning it."

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