F1 chief admits mistake over ‘private’ mid-race discussion

F1 team chiefs Mattia Binotto, Andrea Stella, and Christian Horner — Photo: © IMAGO

Latest F1 News

F1 chief admits mistake over ‘private’ mid-race discussion

McLaren and their radio calls garnered a lot of attention in 2024

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson

Tuesday 14 January 2025 09:57 Updated: 11:18

McLaren chief Andrea Stella has admitted to a mistake he has made regarding a private mid-race discussion on the team's pit wall during a race.

With the pace of the MCL35 catapulting McLaren into championship contention in both the drivers' and constructors' championships in 2024, the papaya team found themselves under a lot of scrutiny last season.

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen RELEASE confirmed as Aston Martin announce 2025 signing

They did not always cope well with this, either, with every error or questionable call made by the pit wall magnified due to the intensity of fighting for a championship.

Take the Hungarian Grand Prix, for example, where the team were embroiled in a row over team radio with Lando Norris after they used him to undercut Oscar Piastri and then demanded he give the position back, or the Italian Grand Prix, where they were mocked for using the term 'papaya rules'.

McLaren came in for heavy criticism after the Hungarian GP

McLaren allowed their drivers to race under 'papaya rules' in 2024

Andrea Stella admits McLaren mistake

It appears the above were not McLaren's only radio mishaps in 2024, however, with team principal Stella admitting he occasionally makes a curious mistake on the pit wall.

In a YouTube video released by McLaren, Stella, Zak Brown and Randy Singh can be seen in discussion regarding the 2024 season, with one topic discussed being how things work out on the pit wall.

As it turns out, there are secret channels for certain individuals to talk to each other, with Zak Brown admitting: "When you hear all the channels, feels like the whole team’s on the pit wall with you, which is cool,"

"I can see you guys [Stella and Singh] talking on your double, triple top secret channel from time to time, always wonder what they’re talking about right now.”

Zak Brown and Andrea Stella have a private channel on the pit wall

Responding to this, Singh revealed that Brown and Stella also have their own private channel for discussions, with Stella admitting to a tongue-in-cheek mistake he sometimes makes when using it.

"Sometimes I mix up [the channels], sometimes I want to talk secretly to Zak and I start talking to him, and then I see some faces [on the pit wall] and realise, oh, wrong channel!”

Stella and Brown both later added that their private channel is where they pin the blame: "That's why I use a private channel," Brown laughed.

"All the blame is on the private channel," Stella jokingly added.