30/06/2025 15:30
McLaren boss Andrea Stella has explained why the team felt Oscar
Piastri's lock-up and near-miss into crashing into Lando Norris was
so marginal. During the Austrian GP as the pair battled for the
lead, Piastri moved to the inside of Turn 4 in an attempt to pass,
but was forced to lock-up and nearly collide with Norris as he
tried to avoid the sister car. He was quickly told by engineer Tom
Stallard that the move was effectively over the top and not to do
so again, with Norris pitting soon afterwards, effectively ending
the race, as Norris went onto win. Piastri's lead was trimmed to 15
points in the drivers' championship following Norris's win, as
Stella explained why the team felt the move was potentially in
breach of the so-called Papaya Rules. "The fact that Oscar
acknowledged, and said that he was sorry for that situation, means
that he knew that, especially at that phase of the stint when your
front tyres are quite aged, if you go for that gap, you may be not
entirely in control of the car, you may lock up," Stella told media
including RacingNews365. "The issue that I saw there is that the
tyres were locked, and with a lock-up, you lose control of the car,
and we don't want the proximity of the two cars being determined by
something that we are not fully in control of. "That's our
interpretation, which I think coincides with the interpretation of
Oscar. "From every situation, we will take the opportunity to
review. We do it together. The conversations are always very good
and constructive, and we will fine-tune even more for the future.
"I am proud of Oscar, because as soon as he crossed the finish
line, he opened the radio and he said: 'Sorry for the situation in
corner four, my bad.' "So I think it's all very clear. I am so
refreshed by how the team reviewed the situation in Canada, which
was a benign situation; it was just a misjudgment, and we have come
out stronger and even more united from there."
