McLaren Boss Was Not Impressed With ‘Unacceptable’ Italian GP Clash

Posted on September 5, 2023 | by Charley Williams When you ask a Team Principal about any on-track battle involving their two drivers, they often give quite a muted response. But not Andrea Stella – he declared that the Turn 1 clash between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri during the Italian GP was “not acceptable.”  The McLaren drivers have been relatively close in pace for much of the season, whether good or bad. But on lap 24 of the Italian GP, the pair clashed at the first chicane as Piastri re-joined the track after pitting for hard tyres. The choice to pit Lando first, despite Oscar being ahead on track, had already frustrated fans on social media and as Oscar fought to come back out ahead of his teammate. The front-right of Piastri’s car hit Norris’s sidepod – luckily, there was no major damage for either. That didn’t save the pair from Andrea Stella’s wrath, though. Talking to the media, including The Race, he said: “There should never, ever be a contact between two McLaren cars. There was a contact which doesn’t fit the way we go racing at McLaren.” Stern words from the McLaren boss, and when asked if he’d speak to both drivers, he replied: “You just review things like you do with anything that is technical, operational, racing. “What is important is to have clear perimeter as to what you deem acceptable and what you deem not acceptable. It’s not an emotional thing, it’s just like you did with other things, you deal with racing in a similar way. “And this is very clear that for any driver, there’s something bigger than them – it’s the team.” Whilst Andrea said the discussion isn’t urgent and recognises that it may have just been a case of Oscar struggling to brake efficiently with cold tyres, he reiterated that “both drivers were aware that there must be no contact between two McLarens”. He stood by his comment when asked whether McLaren’s undercut strategy for Norris may have fed into the scenario. He said that if this were the case, it would be “unacceptable” for both drivers to put their agendas ahead of the teams. “If the contact is due to the fact that there was pressure because of the undercut, then we have something to review because it means drivers put their own… they put the team at risk because of affirming themselves. This is not acceptable.” Welp, we wouldn’t like to be in Lando’s or Oscar’s shoes right now! ???? What did you make of the McLaren clash?