McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has stated his team is
“comfortable” with the noise F1 fans made over the squad's approach
to the current title fight. With McLaren dominating at the front of
the grid, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are locked in a
head-to-head scrap for the drivers' championship this year. With
seven grands prix and three sprints remaining, Piastri leads by
just 25 points. At the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month,
McLaren carried out a driver swap after Piastri jumped Norris in
the pit lane phase when the latter had a slow stop, resulting in
scrutiny from F1 fans and pundits. Some labelled it a manipulation.
Stella has defended McLaren's approach and called on fans to be
respectful with their comments. “So we are comfortable with the
noise, with the comments,” Stella told the media, including
RacingNews365 . “We welcome the comments. Like I said before,
what's important is that they always remain respectful. “Respect
is a very important value for McLaren Racing, and I'm sure for
everyone. So, no surprise around the noise.” McLaren has
consistently outlined that it has talked through various scenarios
with its drivers to avoid placing them in unforeseen circumstances.
While the Monza team order caused a stir, Stella stated it was the
same approach it took in Hungary last year, when Piastri took his
first grand prix win. “From the pit wall, we execute what we agree
with our drivers, which ultimately becomes our racing principles
and approach,” Stella said. “In that situation, like I explained
after the race, we sequenced the two cars in a certain way at the
pit stop, going with the car behind, then we required a swap.
“This, compounded with the slow stop, led to a swap. “But the
situation that we had with the sequence in terms of strategy is the
same as Hungary, and we acted consistently with the situation we
had in Hungary.”
“comfortable” with the noise F1 fans made over the squad's approach
to the current title fight. With McLaren dominating at the front of
the grid, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are locked in a
head-to-head scrap for the drivers' championship this year. With
seven grands prix and three sprints remaining, Piastri leads by
just 25 points. At the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month,
McLaren carried out a driver swap after Piastri jumped Norris in
the pit lane phase when the latter had a slow stop, resulting in
scrutiny from F1 fans and pundits. Some labelled it a manipulation.
Stella has defended McLaren's approach and called on fans to be
respectful with their comments. “So we are comfortable with the
noise, with the comments,” Stella told the media, including
RacingNews365 . “We welcome the comments. Like I said before,
what's important is that they always remain respectful. “Respect
is a very important value for McLaren Racing, and I'm sure for
everyone. So, no surprise around the noise.” McLaren has
consistently outlined that it has talked through various scenarios
with its drivers to avoid placing them in unforeseen circumstances.
While the Monza team order caused a stir, Stella stated it was the
same approach it took in Hungary last year, when Piastri took his
first grand prix win. “From the pit wall, we execute what we agree
with our drivers, which ultimately becomes our racing principles
and approach,” Stella said. “In that situation, like I explained
after the race, we sequenced the two cars in a certain way at the
pit stop, going with the car behind, then we required a swap.
“This, compounded with the slow stop, led to a swap. “But the
situation that we had with the sequence in terms of strategy is the
same as Hungary, and we acted consistently with the situation we
had in Hungary.”
The post McLaren respond to F1 fan 'noise' after controversial driver swap appeared first on RacingNews365.