Andrea Stella has praised the “respectful approach” between McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as they battled for victory at last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Reigning world champion Norris finally took his first Grand Prix win of the season in Sunday’s 70-lap race at the Hungaroring, after initially losing the lead at Turn 2 to piastri after running open.
Piastri continued to lead the first stint and rejoined from his first pit stop still ahead, and Norris claimed over the radio that he could run much faster in cleaner air.
Piastri was called in early for his second stop, with the Australian held up by traffic on his new tyres, especially at Turn 2, where he made contact with Carlos Sainz’s Williams – prompting an outburst of anger over the team’s radio strategy.
Norris pitted six laps later and rejoined the front, winning when Piastri finally retired with a suspected gearbox problem, with McLaren Team manager Stella claimed that the latter had apologized for his comments about the team during the race.
“Let me say that immediately after the race, Oscar clarified that his comment was an angry comment, and that what happened today, in terms of how the race went, the competition between the two McLaren drivers was fair and it was a great race,” Stella said.
“From this point of view, I think we are pretty happy with the racing we saw today. The drivers had their opportunities in turns one and two.”
“I’m very pleased with how respectful they were with each other, staying away from contact, and ultimately Oscar took the lead because he judged the grip in turn two and took the lead away from Lando. From there, Oscar had his own chances to win the race, leading the race.”
Stella explained the reason Piastri pitted when the team did, as the chasing group led by Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari posed a threat to McLaren’s chances of victory.
“At some point, we had to pit to cover Hamilton because you can’t afford to give any positional advantage here, and then there were a couple of unfortunate episodes,” Stella said.
“Obviously the most important [factor] It’s the fact that Oscar had a collision with a back marker. At the time I understand that the blue panels were not working, so perhaps today it was harder than usual for the rear markers to appreciate what was happening in the mirrors. Carlos is a very fair and very correct driver, so I’m sure it was absolutely unintentional, but it’s a shame for Oscar.”
He added: “It’s absolutely understandable that when you lead the race for almost half and then find yourself losing the lead due to an episode with a marker behind. Then you know you can have a moment and make an angry comment, but there is absolutely no problem from this point of view.”
Despite Piastri’s problems and eventual retirement, Stella was pleased with the pace of Norris, who had beaten the Ferraris in qualifying and was the dominant force during the race, as new improvements helped put McLaren back in contention.
“Once Lando was released, his pace was just mega. I think he found half a second a lap. And this pace meant that Lando could pit ahead of Oscar,” said Stella.
“So for me this is just a great race, a sophisticated race in a way. And the good news is that the two McLaren drivers are in contention for a win or a podium.”