Why McLaren must “refuse the poisoned biscuits” from rivals to stay at the top

Andrea Stella has revealed how “refusing the poisoned biscuit” has helped McLaren remain unified in its journey to becoming Formula 1 constructors’ champions.

Stella, who followed Fernando Alonso to the Woking-based outfit from Ferrari for the 2015 season, has been through the thick of it with the team, witnessing the ill-fated run with Honda engines, the internal turbulence under Eric Boullier’s reign as team boss, and the growing financial pressure that threatened the squad’s existence.

On Saturday, McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown conceded the team was “months away” from going bankrupt during a grave period at the end of the 2020 season.

But after Lando Norris won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to secure a first constructors’ title since 1998, Stella was able to reflect on the incredible job he has done in turning the team around since taking over the team principal role from Andreas Seidl ahead of the 2023 season.

“The time I joined McLaren to now, end of the season, celebrating a championship, means that we’ve gone through a circle,” he said.

“I often mention to the team the fact that the first race in 2015 in Australia, [the gap] between our lap in Q1 and pole position was five seconds.

“We have gone all the way thanks to great resilience, thanks to great belief, and I would like to thank in particular Zak, Paul Walsh [executive chairman of the McLaren Group], all our shareholders for their faith in the change that gradually they have implemented and that has put McLaren in a solid position.

“From a management point of view, when you are solid from a management point of view, you are trusted. When you start to deliver on the investment that was necessary, then you can compete at the top.

“I think the final bit of this circle came through the people; unlocking the people. I am not sure if it is something that [others] can appreciate what it means if you are not seeing such rapid progress of 1,000 people, but that is what has happened.

“You cannot achieve this standard, this operation, this reliability without every one of the 1,000 people to operate at a very high level.

“That’s what we’ve gone through at McLaren and hopefully this is not the end point but the starting point for the future.”

Stella now knows he has to maintain his team’s position at the top – the Italian has a saying: ‘don’t take the poison biscuit’.

It is a phrase that can be interpreted in different ways but ultimately means that McLaren must make the right decisions and Stella is aware that now at the top, his rivals will be throwing in ‘poisoned biscuits’ looking to weaken his squad and his objective is to ensure they don’t eat them.

Asked by Motorsport.com about his mantra, Stella replied: “How has the poison biscuit leaked outside of McLaren? I have learned that the journalists are too smart or I am too naive.

“Refusing the poison biscuit is one of the fundamental elements of checking and validating that the culture we have created not only works, but exists in real life.

“We will always have poison biscuits dropped in our cup and we will always have poison biscuits dropped in an attempt to create division, to break the cohesion that we have in the team.

“But we talk every day that we are not going to pick the poison biscuit.

“It would be very naive and very arrogant that to think we have achieved something, that we are perfect and now we can relax because we are world champions.

“There is nothing new. The best philosophy is that you start like if you had lost. That is what we are going to do in preparation for next season.”