Stella is furious after the contact between Norris and Piastri
The McLaren Team Principal clearly expressed his dissatisfaction with his two drivers after their collision during the race.
It’s an incident McLaren would have preferred to avoid. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris collided during the race on Sunday at Monza. A minor incident that displeased the Team Principal of the team, Andrea Stella. The Italian boss didn’t hesitate to point it out and referred to this problem as unacceptable before adding that there should never be any contact between two McLaren cars.
During the 24th lap of the race, Oscar Piastri just came out of the pits when he found himself side by side with Lando Norris, who had stopped earlier, for 10th place. In the first chicane of the circuit, the British driver gains the upper hand on his young teammate by making slight contact with him.
“Something to review” with the undercut
« There was contact, which does not correspond to the way we run at McLaren. », stated an visibly upset Stella. For the McLaren boss, drivers must align with a clear policy defined by the team and not let their emotions take over during the race. « It is important to have clear parameters on what is considered acceptable and unacceptable. This is not a matter of emotion. It is very clear that for any driver, there is something bigger than themselves. It is the team. »
On the issue of whether this incident occurred because of the team’s strategy, Stella assumed that the team had something to review if the contact was due to pressure because of the undercut.
At the end, it’s an average result for McLaren who, starting 7th (Piastri) and 9th (Norris) on the grid, could hope to get both drivers into the points. The Englishman, finishing 8th, felt they had done their best on Sunday.
