McLaren Formula 1 boss Andrea Stella has praised Lando Norris for the way he responded to his clash with team-mate Oscar Piastri in the Singapore Grand Prix sprint race.
The McLaren pair were squabbling over fourth on Saturday until Norris made an opportunistic lunge down the inside of Turn 5 during the final lap, causing both to collide at the apex.
It forced Piastri into a retirement with Norris dropping to eighth, though the reigning world champion avoided punishment as stewards claimed “both drivers had contributed”.
McLaren’s hierarchy was nevertheless furious, but spirits were higher on Sunday when Norris finished fourth and offered to help Piastri in his successful late attack on Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton for fifth.
“While the conversations from this point of view are not concluded, there's more we can do to become a more united and even stronger team,” said Stella, whose squad is now without a podium in three rounds.
“I'm pleased that Lando, at some stage in the race, adopted this way of thinking. This is what I expect as a team principal. This is what the 1,000 people that work at McLaren expect from our drivers.
Andrea Stella, McLaren
“So, it's good that we have had this example and I expect definitely more of that in the future, independently of the fact that they will be heard on the radio or they will happen behind the closed door in every meeting or in the way we approach our race plan.”
The way Norris publicly reacted to the incident certainly changed as the weekend progressed, initially claiming on Saturday that “it was a big gap” so he had the “right” to attack.
Yet post-race on Sunday the Briton accepted that he “should never have attempted” the overtake, with Piastri adding it ‘didn’t need to happen’ but he’s already moved on from it.
This left Stella pleased amid McLaren’s fight to hold onto third in the constructors’ standings, as a resurgent Red Bull is just seven points behind after Max Verstappen won the last two rounds.
“What we had yesterday I classified it as unacceptable, which is a statement that comes from the team principal,” added Stella.
“But I was very encouraged by the fact that it's a statement that very rapidly came from our drivers as well.
Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren
“So, we are aligned as to how we want to lead this team forward in a joint effort between the team and the drivers.
“The conversations that we are having, they are not finished. But it's not because we need to go back discussing if Lando was alongside Oscar like with...that's not the interesting bit.
“For me, the interesting bit is a reflection that all the stakeholders, the team, the drivers will have to make around living together the team.
“Embracing constantly from inside the cockpit the interest of the team as something that is superior to any particular singular individual interest.”
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