Stella responds to split McLaren strategies as Norris beats Piastri

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella batted away any suggestion of their split in Hungarian Grand Prix strategy being unfair on Oscar Piastri.

Taking full advantage of the one-stop approach, Lando Norris was able to claim his fifth win of the season and reduce Piastri’s Championship lead to nine points. Piastri meanwhile was on a two-stop strategy, but Stella insisted that the one-stop was never a consideration until Norris drove it into reality.

McLaren split strategies in Hungary: Did Oscar Piastri get a fair deal?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Norris’ attack on Piastri at the start of the Hungarian GP backfired, Piastri covering Norris off as he dropped to fifth, Leclerc leading from Piastri. But it was Norris who ultimately claimed victory, having taken full advantage of a one-stop strategy.

Piastri did two stops. That allowed him to mount a challenge against Norris for the win in the closing laps, but Norris held firm, ensuring he heads into the summer break on a high and with crucial momentum for part two of F1 2025.

Having pitted Piastri for the first time on Lap 19, and again on Lap 46 – as he returned to the track P3 behind Leclerc and Norris – Stella would offer an explanation for McLaren’s strategical thinking.

Piastri was able to catch and pass Leclerc, but Norris proved too tough of a case to crack.

“Had we pitted Oscar before, he might have ended up behind Lando, but we wanted to give Oscar enough of a tyre delta to pass Leclerc, but also to have a fair chance on Lando, because that would have meant being on an optimal two-stop,” Stella told the media, including PlanetF1.com.

“So we wanted to make sure that, thinking about Leclerc, we were not deviating too much off of an optimal two-stop, because that would have been unfair to Oscar in relation to his competition with Lando, which was fair.

“And we also checked with Oscar what is better, of course. Certainly he wanted to have an opportunity to win the race, and we thought that with enough tyre delta to Leclerc, Oscar would have had a chance in the end.

“So I think actually, let me say that the race unfolded pretty much as we hoped it would unfold in terms of tyre behaviour, which means tyres that lasted enough for a one-stop, when we decided to keep Lando out.

“And also in the second stint, tyres and car pace that would have allowed Oscar to pass Leclerc, and then actually the two stylege [sic] has proved to be quite equivalent.”

Pressed on whether the McLaren strategy was ultimately unfair on Piastri, as Norris came from behind to win with a one-stop, Stella added: “Our baseline strategy today was a two-stop strategy. We didn’t think necessarily that the one-stop was possible.

“So with Oscar, we tried to go on a good and deterministic two-stop strategy, trying to pass Leclerc in the first stop. Then we tried to extend in the second stop to have a tyre delta in order to have those few tenths of a second to be able to pass Leclerc. And this did work.

“When it comes to Lando and the one-stop strategy, when we extended leaving Lando out, we didn’t think that the one-stop would have been possible still. But credit to Lando, he managed to put together some very strong sectors and lap times with tyres that were relatively used.

“So we somehow convinced ourselves that the one-stop was starting to get in the game as we progressed with the first stint. It wasn’t like entering the race with a one or a two-stop, and we would have picked the net equivalent. We thought that the two-stop would be the dominant strategy.”

Latest F1 2025 head-to-head standings post-Hungary

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

The first round of pit-stops featured an unsuccessful undercut attempt for McLaren with Piastri on Leclerc. It was put to Stella that this was a deciding factor in the race.

“I think in terms of the two-stop for Oscar and the stopping time, is that also his tyres were starting to suffer a little bit in the first stint,” Stella responded. “It wasn’t clear what the power of the undercut would have been, but it was worth a try.

“And even extending, when you have tyres that don’t behave very well, not necessarily will make the extension something that will reward you.

“So we wanted to give a first go at trying to pass Leclerc. We knew that there would have been a second go later on in the race, and at the time, definitely the one-stop for Lando was outside of any card, because, like I said before, it’s an option from a strategic point of view that we discovered while we were staying out with Lando.”

Hungary marked back-to-back races where the McLaren cars went down alternate strategy paths.

Last time out at the Belgian Grand Prix, Norris had moved to hard tyres once the track dried, compared to mediums for Piastri. That decision also resulted in a battle for the win, Piastri victorious on that occasion.

These recent examples can be seen as reflections of the value which McLaren wants to bring to Formula 1.

“Well, we are McLaren Racing,” said Stella. “We bring the value of racing into Formula 1.

“So we want to give great racing for Formula 1, we want to give our two drivers the possibility to utilise, express their talent, pursue their aspirations, their personal success, and this is to happen within the boundaries of the team interest and the fairness, the scholarship, and the respect for one another.

“For me, this is what I see. When we have a deviating strategy, when we have different options, I think this is part of racing. We want to make sure that none of the drivers are surprised, and I think none of the drivers were surprised.

“And so far, I can only be very grateful to the way Lando and Oscar have interpreted the way we were racing as a team, as a group, which include the drivers, and I’m sure this is going to be the same until the end of this season.”

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