29/06/2025 18:05
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella confirmed that Oscar Piastri
immediately apologised for his Turn 4 overtaking attempt on Lando
Norris in the Austrian Grand Prix. Piastri started in third but
quickly found himself behind his team-mate after overtaking Charles
Leclerc, triggering a fight for the lead which lasted the entire
first stint at the Red Bull Rung. The championship leader made
several attempts at overtaking Norris, but only briefly got his
nose in front. For the majority of the time, he sat behind the
Briton, before going too far. On lap 20, Piastri went for a late
dive on Norris at Turn 4, but quickly had to slam on the brakes to
avoid a collision. It resulted in a huge lock-up for the
Australian, flat spotting his tyres. McLaren informed him that the
move went over the line, with Stella confirming after the race that
Piastri's overtaking attempt was "a little too far". However, the
Woking-based outfit's boss revealed that an apology to the team and
Norris was immediately handed out by Piastri after crossing the
chequered flag. "Well, it was intense racing, but that's what we
are here for," Stella told Sky F1 . "And it was open racing today,
and here in Austria, it's a special track in which when you get the
DRS, you stay hooked to the car ahead. "And this is what happened
in the first stint, because the pace between Lando and Oscar was
very similar, so they stayed together. And at the end of the stint,
Oscar actually had a couple of chances. "There was also another
one in the middle of the stint. But we are very happy, very proud
of how they handled the situation. We needed to give Oscar a bit of
advice in terms of the manoeuvre in Turn 4, which he actually
acknowledged. "And I'm once again proud of him for how he said
straight after the chequered flag that he was sorry for that
manoeuvre. He went a little too far. It's not easy, it's Formula 1,
it's racing, it's racing hard, but it's a good day."
