McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said talks will take place with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri over a possible team order for the final race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Norris leads the Drivers’ Championship with a 12-point lead over Max Verstappen, but Mathematically Piastri is still in hot pursuit if his McLaren teammate ends up having a difficult race, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event after lights out at 1pm on Sunday.
If Norris finishes on the podium, he will become world champion no matter what his two title rivals do, but there is also a scenario where he will need help from Piastri, who needs to compete in team competitions.
“I think that whatever decisions we make in terms of leveraging driver cooperation, we need to follow some of the fundamental principles that underpin our approach,” Stella said.
“We want to be fair to the drivers, we want to race honestly and we want to race in a way that doesn’t surprise the drivers.
“Therefore, there will be further discussions with Lando and Oscar before Abu Dhabi. We will confirm our race approach, but what is certain is that if any of our drivers are fit to pursue their title pursuits, we will respect this.”
McLaren has refused to back one driver all season, with chief executive Zak Brown saying last month that he would rather lose the championship to Verstappen than back one of his drivers.
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Speaking in early November, McLaren CEO Zak Brown said he would rather lose the drivers’ championship to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen than support one of his drivers.
Stella admitted that this will continue to be the case in Abu Dhabi until a situation arises where a driver needs to help his teammate in order for the team to win the drivers’ championship.
“Decisions are not made to exclude other drivers if they are in a position to win,” he said.
“So we’ll see what scenario unfolds, but what I can say without any doubt is that there will be discussions and there will be a way for teams and drivers to come together as they have in the past and go ahead with the race.”
Stella wary of F1 history repeating itself
Stella has been in both F1 title races since 2007, when he was a Ferrari performance engineer, when Kimi Raikkonen won the title over the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
He was Alonso’s race engineer at Ferrari in 2010 and 2012, but the Spaniard narrowly lost out to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel on both occasions.
In 2007 and 2010, the driver who finished third in the standings going into the final race won the championship. Stella is wary of something like this happening again, which is why he still backs Piastri, who was the least likely to win the championship on Sunday, 16 points behind Norris.
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Check out some of the best title deciders since 2012 ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Stella said: “We’ve seen in the history of F1 that when you’re in a situation like this, it’s the third car that actually wins. We saw it in 2007 and 2010, but Oscar is fast so I think it’s only natural to feel his performance.”
“We’re going to have our drivers in good condition to race against each other, but what’s most important to us is that one of our two drivers is in good condition to beat Verstappen.”
Stella’s main goal is for the team to finish the weekend clean after making a strategic mistake in Qatar last Sunday, as if Verstappen does not finish on the podium in Abu Dhabi and Norris wins, it will be the Dutchman’s fifth straight victory regardless of Piastri’s actions.
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Max Verstappen pits under safety car as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri stay out in Qatar, denying McLaren victory
“The first focus from a team point of view is to make sure we are fit, ready and determined to run a perfect race weekend. The pace of the car is good and the drivers are doing a very good job, but from a team point of view, in the last few races we have not been able to take advantage of the good work of the drivers and the potential of the car.”
“Our philosophy and approach remains the same when it comes to the fact that we have two drivers aiming for the World Championship.
“We leave open the possibility for both Oscar and Lando to compete and pursue their aspirations. From a points perspective Oscar is definitely in position to win the title.”
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McLaren driver’s four-second difference between pitstops causes drama at Monza as Oscar Piastri undercuts Lando Norris but ultimately relinquishes position
Live Abu Dhabi GP Schedule on Sky Sports F1
Thursday, December 4th
11am: Drivers press conference
2pm: Paddock uncut
Friday, December 5th
7am: F2 practice
9:00am: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice 1 (Session starts at 9:30am)*
10:55am: F2 Qualifying*
11.40am: Team boss press conference*
12:45pm: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice 2 (Session starts at 1pm)*
2:15pm: F1 Show*
Saturday, December 6th
10:15am: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice 3 (Session starts at 10:30am)*
12:10pm: F2 Sprint*
1:15pm: Abu Dhabi GP qualifying build-up*
2pm: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualifying*
4pm: Ted’s Qualification Notes*
Sunday, December 7th
9:10am: F2 Feature Race
11am: Grand Prix Sunday: Abu Dhabi GP Build-up*
1pm: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix*
3pm: Checkered flag: Abu Dhabi GP reaction*
4pm: Ted’s Notes
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
The 2025 F1 season concludes with the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
