Stella: My Top 3 in same F1 car are Verstappen, Norris and Alonso

Reflecting on the season in an interview with DAZN, Stella said "My top three drivers with the same cars would be Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso."

Notably, the veteran race engineer turned McLaren TP did not mention Mercedes's seven-time F1 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton nor Ferrari speedster (five P1 starts last year) Charles Leclerc.

"Lando, his development as a driver will make him so complete. He reminds me a little of Fernando," added Stella, who was the performance engineer for Michael Schumacher (2002–2006) and then Kimi Räikkönen (2007–2008) then race engineer for the Finn in 2009, before partnering with Alonso from 2010 until 2014.

Clearly Stella has high regard for Norris: "Lando is already one of the best drivers on the grid. He is very fast, very good in the race, with tire management. When I think about Lando, I think that if the team and I gave him a good car, he would be able to fight for the championship.

"When we talk about being the most complete, I definitely think of Fernando Alonso. He basically has no weaknesses. I think this makes him unique. He is not the best in many things, but he is very strong in all of them," ventured Stella.

Zak Brown made an audacious and expensive swoop to lure Oscar Piastri to McLaren. That entailed paying underperforming Daniel Ricciardo to leave Woking a year early. Then snatch Piastri from the clutches of Alpine, and give the much-hyped 22-year-old Australian.

And Piastri delivered a fine maiden season in the top flight. One of the most impressive rookies in a while who kept 24-year-old Norris on his toes throughout the season, even at venues the younger driver had never been to. The Aussie did all that could be done by a rookie to set the base to ensure a long-term F1 future.

Stella said of their new kid on the block: "I think that in Oscar I see his powerful mind. He is definitely like Fernando. He can do mathematical calculations while driving. He is talented and let me say intelligent. His brain capabilities are very high. He has very interesting characteristics. I would say that he is very calm."

As for the Red Bull's triple F1 World Champion, Stella said: "I think Max Verstappen is on another level. Look at what Red Bull achieved this year. I'm sure he still has a lot more in reserve, they could take another step. We best stick to our own thing and keep on our own journey. And see where and how we can be more competitive."

McLaren CEO Brown has to be credited for turning the once-faltering ship around. His five-year plan to return to regular winning ways in 2023 didn't quite come to fruit, but Piastri did win a Sprint Race for them. And the boss can take a bow for taking the fight to RBR+Max in a 'two-knives-versus-a-gun' kind of way.

For the 2024 F1 season, Stella's goal is simple: "I'd like to see Zak Brown high-fiving in the pit garage as much as possible. When the results are good, you get really hard high-fives! So we'd like to see him fist-bumping in the garage, smiling, and that he's happy means good things are happening," revealed Stella, McLaren's Renaissance Man.