McLaren plan to review the incident between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the final laps of the Italian Grand Prix.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has said that the team will review the Lap 51 incident between its drivers and whether it cost them the opportunity for a podium finish against Max Verstappen.
Norris and Piastri battled for fourth place in the closing stages of the Italian GP, with Norris attempting a move around the outside of his teammate around the outside of Curva Grande. Piastri moved left to defend, forcing Norris onto the grass.
The reigning world champion initially complained on the radio that Piastri had pushed him off. However, he shared a more diplomatic view on the incident after the race had ended.
Speaking to media, Stella gave insight as to why McLaren did not intervene in the battle.
“In this situation, we thought that for Lando to be able to have a chance on Max, he should first be able to pass Oscar.
“And the two cars were on the same tyres, the same tyre age, the same car. So we thought there was no need to interfere with the normal development of the race. We let them race.
“We think that was the right thing to do. I think overall Max was faster. He was just caught in this hook that you have this year, when you lose the slipstream here in Monza, and you have to use the energy to defend from someone else.”
“More important to let them race”, says Stella
When asked about the close call between his drivers, Stella maintained that there was no wrongdoing from them and highlighted McLaren’s principle of letting their drivers race.
“The moment in which Lando put the wheels on the grass, he came on the radio; he made a comment like ‘he pushed me off’ or something. But actually, when we reviewed it, I think we saw that the episode is much more benign than what it might have looked like in the heat of the moment.
“So it’s something that we will certainly review, and we will review it in the context of this kind of racing, because I think you are right in highlighting that as soon as you fight with each other, then you may lose time.
“So, was there a better way for McLaren to give a fight to Verstappen? We will review.
“It wasn’t obvious to us on the pit wall, and we thought that it was more important to let them race according to our philosophy of going racing.”
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