Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal, has played down the clash between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the Italian Grand Prix. On lap 51 of 53, Norris, closing in on his teammate, attempted a move at the Rettifilo chicane and then tried to go around the outside of della Roggia. But Piastri, taking a slightly wider line to defend fourth, forced Norris off track, who had to avoid a high-speed slide.
"He pushed me off," Norris complained over team radio. "That was just very dangerous. He moved back at me after I went to the inside." However, after the race, both drivers had cooled off. Stella reflected that the incident was more benign than it seemed in the heat of the moment.
According to Stella, the team decided to let the drivers race to chase Max Verstappen in third. "We thought there was no need to interfere with the normal development. We let them race. We think that was the right thing to do," he said. After reviewing, he noted that the episode was much more benign than Norris might have thought.
Still, Stella acknowledged lessons to be learned. "As soon as you fight with each other, you may lose time. Was there a better way to give a fight to Verstappen? We will review. It wasn't obvious to us at the pit wall," he added. McLaren wasn't the only team facing a conundrum; Ferrari let Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton battle at the start, while Mercedes asked Kimi Antonelli and George Russell to keep it clean.
Stella also praised Antonelli, who became the first Italian to win his home race since 1966. "It's a very important performance, the fact that he's an Italian at the Italian Grand Prix. While he had a very competitive car, he beat the teammate starting second. So, it's a very special day," he said. This incident highlights the fragile dynamics within top teams, especially with McLaren fighting at the front of the championship.
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