McLaren boss Andrea Stella insisted the team had no issue with Oscar Piastri’s plea to swap places with team-mate Lando Norris in the Formula 1 British Grand Prix.
Piastri was aggrieved post-race at Silverstone as a 10-second time penalty cost him a possible win to Norris, who capitalised to seize a maiden triumph on home soil.
Having overtaken pole-sitter Max Verstappen on the eighth lap, Piastri had charged into a dominant lead when a Safety Car erased the advantage that he had created.
The decisive moment came when Piastri braked on the Hangar Straight on Lap 21 in response to a restart being signalled, leading Verstappen to take avoiding action.
Verstappen managed to avoid colliding with the McLaren, but the stewards determined that Piastri had been “erratic” with the sudden deceleration and penalised him.
That ensured that Norris inherited the lead when his team-mate served his punishment at a pitstop later on, though he inquired whether a switch could be sanctioned.
But while his request was declined, Stella explained how Piastri’s radio aligned with the open dialogue that McLaren has encouraged the drivers to adopt during races.
“As part of the way we were racing together as a team and with Lando and Oscar, we always tell our drivers, don’t keep things in the back of your mind when you drive,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week.
“If you have a point, if you have a suggestion, if you want to let us know what you’re thinking, just say it.
“Then we will evaluate it a bit more, we will make a decision, we will come back to you.
“So I think what Oscar did is exactly what we incentivised our drivers to do. He communicated, he expressed his opinion, which we evaluated.”
Stella has indicated that the sole chance Piastri had to retain the lead with the penalty was if a Safety Car had been called and Norris had to pit behind his team-mate.
“In reality, the way we managed the situation today, given the penalty, was to allow Oscar, despite the penalty, in case of a Safety Car, to retain the lead because if there was a Safety Car, both guys would have pitted,” he expanded.
“Oscar would have paid the penalty, Lando would have waited and the two McLarens would have gone out in the same order as they came in.
“But at the point in which we needed to have the transition to the dry tyres, then the penalty was made and at that stage we thought that we should just retain the natural order again to the penalty. So I think this was a fair thought, and I’m sure that Oscar will understand and agree with this point of view.”
Piastri didn’t anticipate McLaren exchanging places
Piastri admitted post-race that he was aware within the moment that McLaren would not be willing to ask his team-mate to surrender the lead at his home Grand Prix.
“I thought I would ask the question,” he elucidated. “I knew what the answer was going to be before I asked.
“But I just wanted a small glimmer of hope that maybe I could get it back. But no, I knew it wasn’t going to happen.”
READ MORE – Why Max Verstappen thought Oscar Piastri’s F1 British GP penalty was ‘strange’
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