Andrea Stella came to the defense of Oscar Piastri after the driver’s outburst during the Formula 1 Hungarian GP. The McLaren boss stated that the criticisms made by the Australian happened “in the heat of the moment” and assured that there is no internal problem between the team and the driver after the race.
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Piastri was leading the race from the first lap and seemed to have good chances of winning, but his race began to get complicated before the first pit stop. As the leader of McLaren, he would have priority in the pit stop, but ended up losing time encountering Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso fighting for position. On lap 38, there was a touch between Piastri and Sainz, a delay that allowed Lando Norris to take the lead in the team’s strategy. Later, Piastri retired from the race.
Right after the incident, the Australian showed irritation over the radio. Addressing Sainz, he said: “Is he an idiot or what? Get out of the way, you idiot! My God.” Then, he also criticized McLaren: “Man, just don’t talk to me right now. Good that you took that into consideration, by the way. Thanks.”
After the race, Stella revealed that Piastri clarified the episode. “First of all, I want to say that immediately after the race, Oscar made it clear that the comment was made out of anger. What happened today, in terms of how the race unfolded and the battle between the two McLaren drivers, was completely fair. It was a great race,” he said.
The manager praised how Norris and Piastri fought for the lead in the first corners and highlighted the respect between the two. “I am very pleased with the respectful way they raced against each other, avoiding any contact. In the end, Oscar took the lead because he better assessed the grip at Turn 2. After that, he had his chance to win the race.”
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Stella also explained that McLaren had to bring forward the stop to cover a threat from Lewis Hamilton, a strategy considered necessary at the Hungaroring. According to him, Piastri’s situation was worsened by external factors, including a failure in the blue flag system, which made it difficult for the backmarkers to act.
“The main incident was Oscar’s collision with a backmarker. From what I understand, the blue flag panels were not working, so maybe it was harder than usual for those drivers to realize who was coming. Carlos is a very fair driver, so I am sure it was completely unintentional, but it was a shame for Oscar. He lost seconds and, when Lando had a clear track, his pace was simply impressive, about half a second per lap faster, which allowed him to stop and come back ahead.”
For Stella, the battle was an example of clean competition within the team. “For me, that was just a great race, a sophisticated battle. The good news is that the two McLaren drivers were fighting for the win and the podium. There was no situation where Oscar was put at a disadvantage by the strategy. He understood that right after. It is completely understandable that, after leading most of the race and losing the lead because of a backmarker, he reacted with anger. But, from this point of view, there is absolutely no problem,” he concluded.
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