Photo Credit: McLaren Racing
At the end of the Italian GP, the McLaren team principal, Andrea Stella, commented on the contact between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the pit exit, defining it “unacceptable”, given that they should never put their interests before good and interests of the team, just like the two Ferrari drivers did.
It was a difficult weekend, probably due to the characteristics of the Monza track which are not very favorable to the MCL60, for the McLaren team which, in fact, struggled to do well in Italy and to enter the points zone conquered, in the end, only by Lando Norris. A weekend in which, in addition to not very exciting performances, there was also the contact.
On lap 24, the two McLarens were battling for tenth position; they touched each other when braking on the first chicane, with Oscar Piastri returning to the track after the pit stop and Lando Norris who, having stopped the lap before, was ahead on the outside heading into turn 1.
Piastri then, probably to try to overtake his teammate on the inside, braked too late on cold tyres, touching the right rear of car number 4 with his left front. Contact which, fortunately, had no consequences and the MCL60s were not damaged.
Speaking in his post-race media session, Andrea Stella did not mince words in defining it unacceptable and warning the drivers that, before personal ambitions, they must think of the team.
“There should never ever be contact between two McLaren cars. There was a contact, which doesn’t fit the way we go racing at McLaren.
“What is important is to have clear parameters as to what you deem acceptable and what you deem unacceptable. It’s not an emotion thing, it’s just like you do with other things.
“You deal with racing in a similar way. This is very clear that for any driver, there’s something bigger than them. It’s the team.”
Stella then added that the team doesn’t need to take quick action after the incident. There will be a calm review when time has passed.
“I need to review. Like all things, we will do it calmly. There’s nothing that we need to do urgently. We will take the adjustments that we need.
Part of that will be looking into Piastri coming out of the pits on cold tyres.
“It’s always a little tricky when you leave the pits, especially on hard tyres. It could be that certainly Oscar was trying to see where he could place himself so that he could keep the position.
“But on colder tyres, this could be slightly more difficult than he might have anticipated. We could absolutely conclude that this is just a little misjudgement.
“Both drivers were aware that there must be no contact between two McLarens and it was just an issue with the execution – we all have issues with execution.”
The ex-Ferrari man was then asked if the contact was the result of the undercut implemented by the team with Lando Norris. The Brit was behind Piastri in the first stint but was unhappy with the pace his teammate was showing.
“If the contact is due to the fact that there was pressure because of the undercut, then we have something to review. Because it means drivers put their team at risk because of affirming themselves. This is not acceptable.”
A duel between the McLarens which, in fact, was not the only intra-team one at Monza as the Ferraris also fought hard for the podium, leaving the drivers free to race. Freedom that also applies at Woking, but it requires the drivers to race cleanly and avoid excessive risks.
“My role is to give them principles and a clear parameter within which they can race. This is what we want to see – it is exciting to see like the Ferraris today.
“In terms of how you stay within the parameter, it’s not for us to say because we are not the drivers. It’s actually within them to have the skillset to say, ‘the tyres are a bit cold, maybe I need to take more margin’. They need to appreciate that there is no way the line should be crossed.”
