Will McLaren back Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri in Abu Dhabi? Andrea Stella confirms

Andrea Stella says McLaren will continue to give Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri equal treatment for the Abu Dhabi finale

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has confirmed that the Woking outfit will continue with its approach of giving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri equal treatment in the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

The Qatar Grand Prix ended with Piastri finishing in second behind Max Verstappen after starting from pole position, and Lando Norris missed out on a podium with a fourth-place finish after starting from second.

While Norris lost a position to Verstappen at the start of the race, it was McLaren's decision not to pit either driver when the safety car was deployed on lap 7 that seemed to derail the team's race.

Now, heading into the season finale, Norris leads the championship by just 12 points over Verstappen, who has now overtaken Piastri in the standings. The Australian driver trails the four-time champion by four points.

Stella argued that they didn't pit Piastri or Norris on lap 7 as they didn't expect every other driver to do so and it restricted the pitstop strategy decisions for the remainder of the race. However, many have pointed to the team not wanting to put either driver at a disadvantage as a contributing factor in the decision.

As the championship battle heats up, the question of McLaren backing one driver for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has resurfaced.

"First of all, we understand Oscar being extremely disappointed because, like I said at the start, he has done everything, right? He's been fast. He's been solid. He's been consistent," Stella told Sky Sports F1.

Watch: F1 Update: McLaren explains its strategy blunder in Qatar GP, Red Bull driver decision imminently

"Likewise, Lando, so the drivers deserved to capitalise on their great performance. In terms of adapting the way we go racing, we just want to always keep the options open for both drivers. They're both in condition to win the championship.

"There's often been in the history of Formula 1 a situation in which it was the third one in the classification to actually win the championship. I remember 2007 with Kimi, I think it was the same in 2010. I think we have to respect the fact that Oscar, he has his chance to win, and therefore we are going to let them race."

Acknowledging the threat of Verstappen to the drivers' title and explaining how the team will prepare for Abu Dhabi next week, he added: "Like always, it's a matter of review and preparation, so we need to prepare very diligently, very professionally, following our consolidated way of preparing race events.

"And at the same time, I think some of the last events have given us some important information to process, review, and make all the adaptations that are needed. We need to be perfect because the competition is so high and our competitors are doing so well. If we are not perfect, we have seen this today, we have seen this in Vegas, we may miss opportunities.

"We are still in condition to have the outcome of the championship in our hands. It's now up to the quality of our work to make sure that we pull off the performance and the race execution required. I think the team has already demonstrated that it is a very united team. Great conversations are always happening even after difficult races.

"So even in this case, we will make sure that, with Oscar, with Lando, with the entire team, we are prepared and we go very determined into the finale of this season."