May 20 (GMM) McLaren’s boss has defended the decision to prioritise team harmony over absolute victory at the recent Imola GP.
Andrea Stella admits that Max Verstappen’s pace and tyre management caught McLaren by surprise, ultimately resulting in Lando Norris chasing teammate Oscar Piastri with much fresher tyres late in the race.
Norris, trailing Piastri in the championship but with both of them still ahead of Verstappen, radioed his team to gently suggest that a team order be issued.
“It was definitely a thought,” Stella admits.
“We assumed that if Lando was able to pass Max he should have been able to pass Oscar pretty easily considering he was on fairly old tyres. We are happy with how things unfolded.
“Both drivers are happy, both think that was fair, and that’s the way we go racing.”
1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve slammed McLaren’s decision.
“They show weakness,” he said. “It’s as if they’re afraid to be aggressive in trying to win the drivers’ Championship, and they’re afraid to go against Piastri. It’s really, really odd.”
Although highly diplomatically, Norris suggested McLaren’s call – resulting in Norris taking three laps to pass Piastri and then the pair almost colliding – cost the team a potential win.
“I lose time through that, and then he loses time, but it’s what we have to do in order to battle for a championship,” said the Briton.
“If you try and make someone happy, the other one’s going to be unhappy, so it is the way it is.”
Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko also thinks Verstappen’s audacious turn 1, lap 1 overtake around the outside of Piastri was also the result of McLaren-style caution.
“That was Max,” he said. “He was pushing hard. Piastri knew he couldn’t push against him, otherwise there would be a crash.”
Former F1 driver Alex Wurz, however, suggests Piastri – leading the championship over both Norris and Verstappen – was simply playing the long game, even though the young Australian admitted he should have braked “10 metres later”.
“Piastri could have closed the line and pushed Max off the track in accordance with the rules,” said the Austrian. “But he decided not to take risks and save the points.
“Considering the fight for the championship, this was a very smart move.”
As for McLaren team boss Stella, he is leaving the door open to team orders later on in the season. “Internally, we don’t talk about ‘if’ — we talk about ‘when’,” said the Italian.
“We are aware as a team – and Lando and Oscar are aware as well.”
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