Andrea Stella has delivered a severe verdict on the collision between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint, calling the incident “absolutely unacceptable” and warning that it caused direct damage to McLaren in its fight with Ferrari and Red Bull.
The McLaren team principal refused to publicly assign blame to either driver, but made clear that the team’s interests must come before individual ambitions. The clash has reopened an internal issue McLaren believed it had addressed through years of work on the rules governing how its drivers race each other.
Andrea Stella calls Norris-Piastri clash ‘absolutely unacceptable’
Stella did not attempt to soften his reaction after the Sprint.
“I’m disappointed. Disappointed as team principal by an absolutely unacceptable situation, because it caused concrete damage to the team. Every member of the team knows that the interest of the team comes before any personal interest. It is the fundamental principle that must guide our actions and our instincts.”
The contact happened on the final lap of the Sprint, when Lando Norris attempted to pass Oscar Piastri at Turn 5 while both drivers were chasing Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. The incident forced Piastri to retire and left Norris eighth, giving McLaren only one point.
The move came on the final lap, when there was effectively no longer enough time to mount a realistic attack on Leclerc. Such an opportunity would have been the only sporting justification for McLaren to consider changing the order of its two cars.
The stewards took no further action, concluding that both drivers had contributed to the collision and that neither carried predominant responsibility.
‘The glass is empty’ after costly McLaren incident
For Stella, however, the regulatory verdict was not the main issue. His concern was internal discipline and whether both drivers had respected what he sees as a non-negotiable priority: the interests of the team must come before those of the individual.
Asked whether he was surprised to see such an incident happen again despite McLaren’s previous work on driver conduct, Stella distinguished between surprise and disappointment.
“I have worked with drivers at the highest level for so many seasons that I know very well there is always a degree of unpredictability in their behaviour. So I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m surprised. You always have to account for situations like this happening. But as a team, we have to reflect on how to make sure they do not happen again.”
When asked whether McLaren could at least view the incident as an opportunity to learn and see the glass as half full, Stella rejected the idea.
“I’m not discouraged, but that is different from saying I see the glass as half full. There is absolutely nothing positive about this situation. The glass is empty, because when two McLarens make contact like that and cause concrete damage to the team, it means there has been a very serious problem.”
Collision damages McLaren’s fight with Ferrari and Red Bull
The comments carry additional weight because of McLaren’s current competitive position. After losing performance relative to the middle phase of the season, the team is chasing Ferrari for second place in the Constructors’ Championship while also trying to remain ahead of Red Bull.
In that context, losing points because of a collision between team-mates is particularly difficult to accept.
“It is serious because the damage to the team is concrete,” Stella reiterated. “We have the ambition to challenge Ferrari and what happened is a problem in our fight for second position. We also have the ambition to finish ahead of Red Bull, and this incident is a problem with respect to that objective as well.”
The Singapore Sprint itself was won by Max Verstappen, while Ferrari secured a double podium with Lewis Hamilton second and Charles Leclerc third, further underlining the cost of McLaren’s late-race contact. The full Singapore Sprint weekend schedule leaves teams with very little time to recover between competitive sessions.
Stella refuses to publicly blame Norris or Piastri
Despite the strength of his criticism, Stella avoided identifying one driver as the principal culprit. Norris acknowledged that he had apologised, but the McLaren team principal said apologies and individual blame were not the main issue.
“Honestly, the question of apologies, blame or which driver has more responsibility is not the perspective from which I want to approach this situation. I want both of them to reflect on how we can work together to pursue, protect and promote the interests of the team. That is the task in front of us.”
Discussions with both drivers have already begun and will continue after the Singapore weekend, when McLaren will be able to analyse the incident without interfering with preparations for the Grand Prix.
“I know both of them quite well and I trust that they will continue to reflect on what happened. I’m quite confident they will be able to take the fundamental lessons from this episode without me needing to add many more words.”
McLaren confirms more upgrades from Austin
The internal driver issue arrives at an important point in McLaren’s technical development programme. Stella acknowledged that Red Bull has probably been the most effective team in recent development, helping Max Verstappen return to a position where he can consistently fight for victories.
“It is a season in which we have seen a development rate that is probably unprecedented. Depending on the upgrades introduced, different teams have found themselves in a position to win. We also had a favourable window, then other teams made progress. Red Bull is probably the one that has done the best job most recently. And when Max has the equipment to be competitive, he does not hesitate to make the most of it.”
McLaren nevertheless expects to respond. Stella confirmed that further upgrades will begin arriving from Austin as part of a development programme that started with the changes introduced in Baku.
“The Baku upgrade was not intended to produce a major immediate performance step, but it represented the foundation for some new developments that we will begin bringing to the track from Austin and in the following races. I hope we will return to a position where we can fight for podiums and, once the full package is complete, also fight for victory.”
McLaren therefore has two separate challenges to address. The first is recovering the performance lost relative to Ferrari and Red Bull. The second is restoring the internal discipline Stella believes is essential to achieving the team’s objectives.
The message to Norris and Piastri is clear: freedom to race cannot be allowed to become a risk to the collective result. This time, more than apologies, Stella expects their behaviour on track to show that the lesson has been understood.
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