McLaren faces internal scrutiny after Norris and Piastri’s crash, with Stella calling it unacceptable despite Norris owning the mistake.
Andrea Stella, the McLaren F1 team principal, was expected to give his first reaction to the collision between his drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
The Italian’s task was made easier by the fact that Norris’s mistake was clear and that the Briton immediately took responsibility — first over the radio, then in front of the media.
Nonetheless, this “silly” collision, as Norris himself described it, cost the team and the Briton a significant number of points.
“We absolutely never want to see a McLaren involved in an accident, and even less so two McLarens making contact. It is not acceptable. This is something we definitely need to review, because it’s a very clear principle,” said Stella.
“It doesn’t change anything, as the contact was due to a misjudgment. Lando simply miscalculated the distance to Oscar ahead of him, and there was absolutely no malicious intent. Had Lando responded differently, we would have reacted differently.”
“Lando immediately admitted fault and took responsibility, but it is certainly something to discuss and revisit. Our principles are already in place, our drivers will take lessons from this, we appreciate his reaction afterward, and we will move on to the next race.”
“It’s a misjudgment that cost Lando dearly in the championship. It has already cost the team, it nearly cost Oscar as well, and it is clearly an incident that should never have happened.”
