20/06/2025 00:30
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has denied it will implement
team orders for its drivers following their collision at the
Canadian Grand Prix. Lando Norris collided with the rear of Oscar
Piastri's car at the Montreal race as they battled for position,
resulting in terminal damage for the former. Norris conceded he was
to blame for the incident, which resulted in Piastri extending his
championship advantage to 22 points. The two title protagonists
have enjoyed a harmonious relationship to date as the Canada
incident marked the first flashpoint between the pair. But McLaren
seek to implement measures to ensure it doesn't happen again,
Stella asserted it will not extend to restricting the drivers from
racing. "Being free to race and the being clear as to how we go
racing is a value of racing," Stella told media including
RacingNews365 . "It's a value of racing that we want to try and
exercise and respect as much as we can. "Rather than every time
that we have proximity between the two cars, then having control
from the pit wall. [Racing] like that, racing may soon become a bit
of an artefact." The McLaren duo are the clear favourites for the
F1 title this year, with the Woking-based squad winning seven out
of the 10 races to date. Stella stated McLaren is wary of the
dangers in interfering with the title fight as both Norris and
Piastri squabble for their first F1 championship. "We want to give
Lando and Oscar opportunities to race and opportunities to be, at
the end of the season, in the position that they deserve to be in
based on their merit, based on their performance, based on the
racing quality that they have expressed through the season," Stella
said. "Rather than being at the end of the season and realising
that the points have been controlled more by the team, rather than
the quality of their driving. "This is not necessarily a simple and
straight exercise, but we want to try and do it as best as we can.
"I don't foresee the [Canadian] episode will change our approach
from this point of view – if anything, it will reinforce and
strengthen that the principles we have require more caution by our
drivers. "If we say that there should be no contact between the two
McLarens, we need to have the margins to make sure that we have no
contact. "Even if in a DRS situation, the car may get almost a
little bit sucked onto the other car and cause this kind of
misjudgement as to the distance."
