With the Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi just days away, McLaren finds itself in a rare and enviable position: both of its drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, are still mathematically in the hunt for the Drivers' Championship. But with Norris holding a 12-point lead over Max Verstappen and Piastri lurking 16 points behind his teammate, the team is walking a tightrope between letting their drivers race and making the kind of strategic calls that could decide the title.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has made it clear that conversations will take place with both Norris and Piastri ahead of Sunday’s showdown. The focus? Team orders - or, more precisely, whether and when to use them.
“We want to be fair to our drivers,” Stella said. “We want to race with integrity, and we want to race in a way that doesn’t surprise our drivers.”
That’s not just lip service. McLaren has stuck to a driver-equality approach all season long, even as Norris began to emerge as a legitimate title contender.
CEO Zak Brown has gone on record saying he’d rather lose the championship to Verstappen than compromise the team’s values by favoring one driver over the other. That philosophy will hold - at least until the moment it no longer can.
Stella acknowledged that if the championship scenario on race day demands it, the team won’t hesitate to ask one driver to support the other. But that call will only come if it’s clear that one of them no longer has a realistic shot at the title.
“There will be no call which excludes the other driver when the other driver is in condition to win,” Stella emphasized. “We will see what scenario unfolds, but definitely there will be conversations, and there will be a way of going racing that is united between the team and the drivers, like we have always done.”
That unity could be tested in Abu Dhabi, where the stakes couldn’t be higher. If Norris finishes on the podium, he clinches the title regardless of what Verstappen or Piastri do.
But if he falters - and Verstappen wins - the Dutchman would secure a fifth straight championship. That leaves McLaren with no margin for error, especially after a costly strategic misstep in Qatar that saw them squander a strong weekend.
Stella didn’t shy away from that reality.
“The first element to focus on from a team point of view is making sure we are prepared and determined to execute perfect race weekends,” he said. “The pace has been in the car, the drivers are doing an exceptionally good job, but over the last couple of races, we have not been in condition to capitalize on the good work of the drivers and the potential we have in the car.”
In other words, the drivers have delivered. Now it’s on the team to match that level of execution.
There’s also a bit of F1 history weighing on Stella’s mind. He’s seen how unpredictable title deciders can be - and how often the unexpected happens.
He was on Ferrari’s pit wall in 2007 when Kimi Raikkonen came from third in the standings to snatch the title from the McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. He saw Fernando Alonso come up just short in 2010 and 2012, too, with Sebastian Vettel stealing the crown both times.
In both 2007 and 2010, the third-placed driver heading into the final race ended up winning the title - a stat that keeps Piastri very much in the picture.
“We have seen before in the history of Formula 1 that sometimes it’s the third one that actually wins,” Stella said. “Oscar is fast. I think he deserves to be able to just realize his performance.”
That’s why McLaren isn’t closing any doors. Piastri may be the long shot, but he’s still in the fight. And as long as that’s the case, the team won’t ask him to play a supporting role - not yet.
“Our philosophy and our approach will not change,” Stella said. “We will leave both Oscar and Lando the possibility to compete and pursue their aspiration. Oscar from a points point of view is definitely in condition to win the title.”
So here we are: one race, three drivers, and a title on the line. McLaren is trying to thread the needle - giving both drivers a fair shot while staying ready to make the hard call if the moment demands it. It’s a high-wire act, but if they pull it off, it could be one for the history books.
The lights go out at 1 p.m. local time on Sunday in Abu Dhabi. Buckle up.