Piastri apologizes for near-miss, but Stella proud of McLaren duel

Oscar Piastri apologized to McLaren for nearly hitting teammate Lando Norris during their battle in the Austrian Grand Prix, but team principal Andrea Stella says he was proud of how the pair handled the situation.

Norris led from pole position but Piastri was attacking from second place throughout the opening stint, and at one stage tried to make a move down the inside of Turn 4 but locked up, with the Australian coming close to the rear of Norris’ car. Stella says it was the only time he was unhappy with the approach but praised Piastri for acknowledging his error.

“In terms of the battle between our two drivers, first of all I would like to say that I am very proud of how our two drivers raced today,” Stella said. “I think that's pretty much exactly what we want to see as the McLaren Formula 1 team.

“We are here to race. We want to give our two drivers the possibility to express their talent, achieve their aspirations, but this needs to be done within the principles and the approach that we have contributed to build together with our drivers. And I think today that's what happened.

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“There was only one situation in which the two cars ended up a little too close, when Oscar locked up and he ended up very close to Lando. We gave Oscar this feedback and I want to acknowledge and once again say that I am proud of Oscar, because as soon as he crossed the finish line, he said, ‘Sorry for the situation in corner four. My bad. I know what I have to do.’

“So I think it's all very clear. I am so refreshed by how the team reviewed the situation in Canada, which was a benign situation, it was just a misjudgment, and we have come out stronger and even more united from there.”

For his part, Piastri said he didn’t need telling that he’d gone too far with his attempt to overtake at that stage, and wouldn’t have repeated the move regardless of the message he received from the pit wall.

“It was a tough battle,” Piastri said. “It was close at some points – probably pushing the limits a bit much from my side once or twice. But we're fighting for race wins in Formula 1. It's going to be pretty tough work and pretty hard.

“I thought it was an entertaining race. After the first stop, maybe we didn't do the right thing giving Lando some breathing room, but the first 20 laps were pretty intense. So, it was a good battle.

“I thought it was a fair comment [from the team]. Locking up and missing the back of your teammate by not a lot is certainly pushing the boundaries. Even if I hadn't been told anything, I didn't think it was a wise decision to try that one again. So, yeah, a fair comment and nothing more than that.”