McLaren boss Andrea Stella has explained how the team plans to proceed with dealing with another contentious situation involving its drivers at Formula 1‘s Singapore Grand Prix.
The papaya squad’s Constuctors’ Championship triumph was somewhat overshadowed by a testy first-lap clash between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
At lights out, Piastri was baulked by a slow-starting Max Verstappen, and with Norris managing a good getaway, managed to pull alongside into Turn 2.
With the inside line into Turn 3, Norris nudged Verstappen and in avoidance of doing so further, tapped Piastri as he overtook him, forcing the Australian wide.
It set the tone for Piastri for the remainder of the race – a tone of irritation, audible over radio in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
The media examination of it was swift upon the race’s completion, with Norris unrepentant, and Piastri unwilling to rise to any leading questions.
Naturally, Stella was handed a myriad of questions about the incident, despite having led the team to its first consecutive Constructors’ title since 1991.
“I think the first-lap situation is one of those that can happen with this close racing. We will review the situation together with our drivers,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“We will have the good conversations, like we had for instance after Canada. This review gave us the opportunity after Canada to come back – we said at the time – even more united and stronger as a team.
“We will see if there’s any learning and anything that we need to fine-tune in terms of our approach.
“But I think this will lead to some good conversations. Obviously Oscar made some statements while he was in the car but that’s the kind of character that we want to have from our drivers.
“They have to make their position very clear. That’s what we ask them. At the same time we have to put things in perspective, the perspective of a driver that is in a Formula 1 car with the intensity of it being the first lap and the perspective that obviously Lando moving on to him.
“But we know that Lando in reality had contact with Verstappen and oversteered on to Oscar.
“So we will have good reviews, good conversations and, like after Canada, we’ll come back stronger and even more united.”
Stella confirms ‘detailed’ analysis of McLaren Singapore GP situation
Piastri said he wanted to review the incident after the race in order to get a fuller picture of it before making any further comments, but immediately after it, the title-leader intimated he wanted the team to act there and then.
“Well obviously it’s within the power and the rights of the team to act should there be the case,” Stella explained. “So there’s been an assessment that the people we thought that there was no need to do so.
“But like I said before, we do want we do ask our driver to make their position very clear.
“That’s what Oscar did, then we made our assessment and we thought that the right course of action is the one that we took.
“But part of the process is the review that will happen in the coming days. And like I said before surely this will lead to an even more united and stronger team.”
Stella’s words mirror those of the statements he has previously made when other intra-team incidents have occurred this year, such as when Norris took himself out of the Canadian Grand Prix after touching Piastri, and at Monza, when the pair were switched after Norris’ botched pitstop.
Having defended Piastri’s robust exchanges with his race engineer Tom Stallard, the Italian also defended Norris’ robust manoeuvre, but said the “detailed” analysis of the whole situation will require “sophistication” in order for the team to move on and draw a line under it.
“He went for a gap that was there as a racing driver at the end of the day, there was an opportunity, regardless of the consequences that then unfolded afterwards.
“Our review needs to be very detailed, very analytical, it needs to take into account the point of view of our two drivers and then we will form a common opinion based on which we will see whether we can just confirm our initial interpretation or there’s something else that we should conclude.
“In terms of going for the gap, I think it’s just a bit too much of a coarse approach, let me say, we need to retain a higher degree of sophistication and detail because there’s so many elements that you need to take into account and we need to make sure that we don’t become too quick in drawing conclusions, we need to be accurate because there’s a lot at stake.
“And there’s a lot at stake, it’s not only the championship points but it’s also the trust of our drivers in the way we operate as a team and this is, if anything, even more foundational than the points themselves.
“So, we will apply all the accuracy that is required in this case and all the conversations that are needed.”
READ MORE – Why McLaren decided not to intervene after clash between drivers in F1 Singapore GP
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