Andrea Stella on the McLaren pit wall - Photo: RacePictures

Stella urges caution ahead of United States GP after Norris-Piastri crash

13:45, 19 Oct

byBen Winship

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has demanded ‘a bit more prudence’ from his drivers after lap 1 contact ended the team’s sprint race at the United States GP.

“I think a bit more prudence [is needed].”

- Andrea Stella on McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri made contact at turn 1 of Saturday’s sprint race as part of a messy tangle that also involved Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso. Zak Brown originally blamed the incident on Hulkenberg but has since backtracked from this view.

The incident wiped both McLarens out of the race and allowed sprint race winner Max Verstappen to close the deficit to championship leader Piastri by a further eight points.

Moving forward rather than looking back

Both McLaren drivers will be looking to rectify their weekend after they lost valuable championship points and crucial long-distance running on Saturday.

Speaking after United States GP qualifying Andrea Stella said: “We've had a couple of conversations with Lando and Oscar, but the conversations were fundamentally about resetting.

“In racing you can't look backwards too much, especially when you have a qualifying session ahead. So it was a conversation about resetting.

“As usual, we will review the incident at the right time. We will do that collaboratively, the team, the drivers, and we will make the right assessment.

“So this follows the way we approach this situation based on our racing framework and both Lando and Oscar were happy with this kind of approach.”

Piastri and Norris collide during the sprint race at COTA - Photo: Race Pictures

Calls for caution

Stella has not announced any changes to the team’s policy of letting their drivers race each other on track.

But speaking after the qualifying, Stella revealed that his drivers need to show a little more caution when racing each other on track.

He said: “What I said straight after the sprint was that I think a bit more prudence [is needed].

“A bit more prudence from drivers comes with a lot of experience - especially when they are in a good [championship] position. This would have been helpful and I can confirm that this is still my view.”

Poll

Norris starts the United States GP from P2 alongside polesitter Max Verstappen.

Oscar Piastri will start the race a couple rows further back in P6 and revealed that he has felt ‘uncomfortable’ with his MCL39 all weekend.

Tension reaching heights at McLaren

The United States GP sprint race was not the first time teammates Norris and Piastri have collided this season.

Norris ended his Canadian GP after making contact with Piastri’s rear while trying to overtake - an incident Norris admitted responsibility for.

Norris' McLaren grinding to a halt after contact with Piastri at the Canadian GP - Photo: RacePictures

And last time out at the Singapore GP tensions reached highs as they banged wheels on the first lap as Norris overtook Piastri, who publicly aired his frustration over the radio.

With just six Grand Prix remaining, the gap between the McLaren drivers is just 22 points. A surging Verstappen is now 55 points off the world championship lead.

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