When Lewis Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari from Mercedes, everyone seemed to have an opinion on it, and McLaren team boss Andrea Stella shared with Sky Sports F1 how he feels about this latest challenge for the seven-time F1 Drivers’ Champion. The man steering the ship at McLaren called the move “historic” and is excited to see how it all pans out.
Stella’s pathway to success
Stella began his career at Ferrari in 2000 as performance engineer for the test team, before becoming performance engineer for two legendary drivers: Michael Schumacher (2002–2006) and Kimi Räikkönen (2007–2008). He then became race engineer for Räikkönen (2009) and Fernando Alonso (2010–2014).
The Italian chose to leave Ferrari after 15 years to join McLaren as head of race operations before moving to Performance Director in 2018 and racing director in 2019. However, the Italian’s talent and potential was soon spotted and he has been team principal of McLaren since the 2023 season after. Stella’s pathway to success led him in 2024 to McLaren’s first World Constructor’s Championship win since 1998
Will Hamilton’s decision pay off?
Hamilton’s announcement to join Ferrari means the British driver heads to the red side of the grid after more than a decade with the silver arrows. His tenure at Mercedes saw him claim six of his seven F1 Drivers’ Championships. Now, the inevitable question is posed: Will Hamilton’s decision pay off?
Stella reflected on how his former F1 team has handled his arrival – one which in Maranello led to the infamous photo of Hamilton in front of the home of Enzo Ferrari.
“Observing from a distance, I can say that I think how this has been reported, it was a great introduction of Lewis to Ferrari. To be honest, as a fan of F1, by having been 15 years at Ferrari before, I felt excited myself to see something that is historic for F1 – a seven-time World Champion going to Ferrari, one of the most iconic teams.”
What counts is what’s happening on track
McLaren now have the target on them as the team that everyone wants to beat. They in turn, have Max Verstappen in their sights as they hope to dethrone the 4-time F1 Drivers’ Champion. Ferrari were still in contention for the Constructors’ Championship on the final race of last season. The Tifosi just missed out to the papaya by 14 points – a fact that has not been lost on Stella.
“I think Ferrari and Hamilton handled this very well, but ultimately, I’m sure they know very well that what counts is what’s happening on track,” Stella continued. “After the initial excitement, I’m sure they will focus very much on making sure that the preparation is good, and on our side, we will try and make their life a little bit difficult!”
A historic year of racing
The 2025 F1 season could provide the closest racing for many years. As such we could be in for a historic year of racing with many drivers in contention for victories. How difficult McLaren can make life for Hamilton – and vice versa – remains to be seen. However, we may have some answers when testing begins in Bahrain at the end of this month.
