Stella opens up on McLaren 'repercussions' after Singapore contact
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella revealed how the team handled the incident between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris once the Singapore weekend was over.
“The conversations after Singapore have been very positive, very constructive”- Andrea Stella
“The conversations after Singapore have been very positive, very constructive,” the Italian said in an interview with Formula 1 ahead of the United States Grand Prix.
"We had a situation in which there was contact between our cars so this required to be reviewed under the racing framework that we use to go racing together as a team, with Lando and Oscar.
"It is a framework that Lando, Oscar and the team have put together and is ultimately my responsibility and Zak's (Brown) responsibility to make sure it is applied consistently during the season.
Stella added that, after a thorough review, McLaren 'identified that Norris was responsible' for the incident, as he went slightly deep into Turn 3 and made contact with Verstappen’s rear, triggering a chain reaction that ultimately caught his teammate as well.
"Obviously there was no malice in this move but both drivers accepted the review and we now head into the rest of the season like after Canada, even more united and stronger as a team."
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Finally, Stella added that “repercussions or consequences” are “part of our framework.”
“This is something that both drivers were keen to have in the racing framework. For me, it was part of leading the review — to discuss this without the drivers. They’ve been accepted, and we are now ready to focus on maximising the performance of the car and finding our winning ways again.”
Norris agrees with McLaren's verdict
Speaking to GPblog on Thursday ahead of the Austin weekend, the Briton reflected on what happened in Singapore, admitting that he had been held responsible for the collision with his teammate at Marina Bay two weeks ago.
Norris added that he wants to avoid any further contact — whether with his teammate or other drivers — and that he fully accepted the team’s verdict on the incident. Here’s what he had to say.
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