McLaren boss Andrea Stella is not interested in his drivers’ apologies for their “unacceptable” collision during the Singapore Grand Prix sprint race, with talks planned after the weekend to resolve what he considers a “serious” situation.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri clashed on the final lap of Saturday’s sprint as they battled for fourth place behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Norris had moved towards the inside of Piastri at Turn 5, with the Australian believing he had given them enough room to get through the corner.
However, they touched wheels in an accident which the stewards considered a racing incident as they felt neither driver was primarily responsible.
Piastri was thrown against the wall and retired, while Norris was able to restart to return eighth – taking just one point.
The incident upset Stella who, in the team’s post-qualifying press release, called wasting fourth and fifth places “unacceptable.”
His annoyance was evident when he spoke in the Singapore paddock on Saturday evening.
What irked him was not only the loss of points which could impact McLaren’s final position in the constructors’ championship, but also the fact that the drivers had put themselves in a situation where their interests came before those of the team.
“It’s serious,” Stella said when asked by The Race how bad the situation was for the team. “It’s serious because the damage to the team is material.
“We are in a tight fight in the championship. We had the ambition to challenge Ferrari and that is a problem in the fight for second position. We have the ambition to finish ahead of Red Bull and it is a problem to finish ahead of Red Bull.”
“It is also serious because we come from a few seasons in which we have thought together, team and drivers, about how we approach racing together and how we ensure that the interests of the team are protected.
While Stella spoke to both drivers after the incident and pledged to spread the message that they must avoid repeated problems at the Singapore GP race, it is understood that further discussions are planned ahead of the United States Grand Prix in Austin.
Although Norris apologized for his role in the accident because he was the one who initiated the move, Stella believes the matter goes beyond just apologizing.
“The aspect of excuses, the fault of a driver, that’s not the view I have and it’s not the view I want from the drivers,” he said.
“I want the drivers to take the view, and think about it, about how we are going to together pursue, protect and promote the interests of the team. That’s the mission. I don’t expect any excuses.”
“I know the drivers, they’re two great human beings. But here’s business. And as a company I want to know, and this is the thinking I want to continue to develop, how can we work together to make sure this doesn’t happen again?”
“And even more, if possible, the collaboration of the two drivers allows us to obtain the best result in the interest of the team.”
Although Norris was sorry for what happened, he told the media after qualifying that he felt he had the right to shoot at Piastri’s pass.
“The gap closed a little bit more than I would have liked and obviously I had to move back because the gap was closing,” he told ViaPlay.
“So I had to try to avoid the incident and obviously there was another one. But it was a big gap so I went for it, I have the right to do it. The rest, we will review it as a team.”
Piastri suggested that the whole situation was pointless as the team was on track to pick up decent points.
“The most important thing, obviously, is that we just can’t get there in terms of points, but also in terms of workload and money,” he explained.
“It just wasn’t a situation that really needed to happen, so Lando apologized and we moved on.
“Unfortunately, this isn’t our first meeting. I think we’re both very good at apologizing when we need to and moving on, and I think that’s what makes us strong as a team.”
McLaren has shown it is not afraid to take action against drivers in the event of a collision.
After last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, where Norris was found at fault in a clash with Piastri, the team handed Norris consequences in terms of running order during qualifying for the following race in Austin.
However, that sanction was overturned almost immediately after Piastri caused a crash at the first corner of the sprint race in Austin.
Gn sports
