Stella warns McLaren over feasting on ‘poisoned biscuits’

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has warned the new constructors’ world champions against feasting on “poisoned biscuits” fed by rivals. 

The Woking-based team ended 26 years of waiting in Abu Dhabi to be crowned constructors’ champions to cap off a remarkable turnaround in fortunes, having had the slowest car at the first race of the 2023 season. 

Throughout the year, the championship contenders engaged in a technical tit-for-tat, with McLaren’s low-drag rear-wing drawing particular attention after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Oscar Piastri won. 

The team was forced to change it, although it was only set to run the specification again in Las Vegas, with alleged water-cooled tyres also a trick rival teams flagged, although there is no suggestion McLaren used the system. 

Reflecting on his first world title as a team principal, Stella had sage advice for his team.

“Refusing the poisoned biscuits is one of the fundamental elements of checking and validating that the culture we have created is not only words, but exists in real life,” he told media including RacingNews365.

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

“But we speak everyday that we’re not going to pick the poisoned biscuits, but it would be very naive, very arrogant to think that now because we have achieved something, we are perfect and can relax.

“Now we can think that everything is new just because we are world champion, there is nothing new.

“The best philosophy is that you start like you have lost, and that is what we’re going to do for next season.”