McLaren team principal Andrea Stella stepped forward to justify the tactical decisions his squad made during the Hungarian Grand Prix, following a vocal criticism from Oscar Piastri after he fell behind teammate Lando Norris. Piastri had launched from third on the grid, quickly passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and pole‑sitter Lando Norris in the opening corners to seize the lead by the end of the first lap.
McLaren initially gave the Australian, who was their fastest car on track, priority in the pit‑stop sequence. However, a swift charge from Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton during the second round of stops forced the team to react. When Hamilton entered the pits, McLaren called Piastri in to protect his track position against the British driver.
The plan back‑fired when Piastri, after his stop, lost the advantage he had over Norris because Norris was on a stronger pace and an unfortunate incident saw Piastri’s car collide with the Williams of back‑marker Carlos Sainz. The collision, for which Sainz received a penalty, sparked an angry radio transmission from Piastri.
He vented his frustration and later added a further dig at the team after Norris emerged ahead of him following his own stop. Stella later explained the logic behind the calls.
"If you look at the race telemetry you’ll see that when Hamilton pitted he was in a position to undercut both McLarens, so we had to respond," Stella said. "If we wanted a McLaren to win, we needed to have one of our cars ahead of Hamilton at that moment." He continued, "It came down to Oscar or Lando.
Oscar was leading, so we chose to stop his car. That opened a different strategic window for Lando.
It wasn’t a matter of favouring one driver over the other; it was about preventing Ferrari from taking the race lead." Stella also highlighted the pace differential, noting that Lando on used tyres was not significantly slower than the cars on fresh rubber, which ultimately allowed him to claim victory. "The win was a product of pace, and Lando capitalised on it, not because the team engineered it, but because we had to cover Hamilton’s threat," he added. Piastri’s race ended prematurely when a gearbox failure forced him to retire while he was running in second place. In the aftermath, he conceded that the timing of McLaren’s stops was reasonable and admitted his request to delay Norris’s stop after the Sainz incident was "not realistic".
"I was hit by Carlos and, in the heat of the moment, I hoped they wouldn’t pit Lando so I could stay ahead, but that wasn’t a fair expectation," Piastri told Sky Sports F1. "I was just very upset about the crash.
The pit‑stop timing was fine – we needed to beat Lewis and that’s what we were aiming for." Before his frustration peaked, Norris had been pressuring the pit wall, repeatedly telling engineers that he was faster than his teammate and urging them to let him pit first. Stella defended the decision to reject Norris’s pleas and to swap the drivers’ order. "At the pit wall you constantly assess every option from multiple angles – a win, points for the team, and consistency in our racing approach," Stella explained.
"Oscar earned the lead fairly in the first corners, so he deserved a chance to fight for the win. In other circuits Lando might have overtaken Oscar, but here a large pace gap would have been required." He added, "We were happy to give Oscar the opportunity while also protecting our overall race strategy. The margins are thin, and many variables come into play, but from a principles standpoint today was a well‑executed race.
I thank both Oscar and Lando; without their cooperation the plan would not have worked." Even after pulling back his criticism of McLaren, Piastri remained angry with Sainz for the collision. He later told reporters, "I saw the blue‑flag signals, but they were ambiguous. I was right behind Carlos in that sector and got hit. Being taken out by a lapped car is something you never expect, and I don’t care if he didn’t see me.
The lack of awareness is unacceptable." Sainz defended his actions, pointing to confusing blue‑flag signals and a battle with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso as factors that contributed to the incident. He also suggested that Piastri could have been more cautious given the high stakes of a race‑winning situation. Piastri responded bluntly, "He’s often critical of others and has earned some criticism himself for being frustrating on track.
When you do something like that, maybe you should take a look in the mirror." The Formula 1 calendar will resume after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort from 21‑23 August, all sessions to be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Viewers can stream Sky Sports via NOW with no long‑term contract and the option to cancel at any time.