McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has stood by the tactical choices his squad made at the Hungarian Grand Prix, responding to Oscar Piastri's initial criticism after the Australian driver fell behind teammate Lando Norris. Piastri had started the race from third on the grid, quickly moving past Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and pole‑sitter Lando Norris in the first few corners to claim the lead by the end of lap one. McLaren initially gave the Australian, who was the leading McLaren on track, priority in their pit‑stop strategy. However, a rapid response from Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton during the second round of stops forced the team to adjust its plan.
When Hamilton entered the pits, McLaren felt compelled to bring Piastri in to protect his track position against the Mercedes driver. Unfortunately, this move erased the advantage Piastri had over Norris, as the Briton’s pace proved stronger and an ill‑timed incident with back‑marker Carlos Sainz of Williams further complicated matters. The collision with Sainz, for which the Spaniard received a penalty, prompted an angry radio message from Piastri, followed by another jab at the team after Norris emerged ahead of him after his own stop.
Stella explained the reasoning behind the decisions, pointing to the race telemetry: "When Hamilton pitted, his car was in a position to undercut both McLarens, so we had to react. If we wanted a McLaren to be in a winning position, we needed to keep one of our cars ahead of Hamilton at all costs." He continued, "At that moment it was either Oscar or Lando. Oscar was leading, so we chose to stop his car. That opened a different strategy for Lando." Stella emphasized that the team was not playing favourites between the two drivers but was reacting to the need to prevent Ferrari from taking control of the race.
"It wasn’t about deviating for Oscar or Lando; it was about avoiding a Ferrari‑led race. Lando on used tyres was not significantly slower than the fresh‑tyre cars, and that allowed him to seize the victory later on. The win came from pure pace, not from a team‑engineered swap." 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 pit stops was reasonable and that his request to delay Norris’s stop after the Sainz collision was "not reasonable".
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, he said, "I was hit by Carlos and, in the heat of the moment, I hoped they wouldn’t pit Lando so I could stay in front, but that wasn’t realistic. I was just very upset about what happened. The pit‑stop timing was fine – we needed to beat Lewis and that’s what we aimed for." Before his frustration boiled over, Norris had been pressing the pit wall, insisting he was faster than his teammate and urging the engineers to let him pit first.
Stella defended the decision to reject Norris’s pleas, explaining that the team constantly evaluates options from multiple perspectives, balancing the desire for a race win with the broader goal of maximizing points for the championship. "Oscar earned the lead fairly in the first two corners, so he deserved a chance to fight for the win. In other circuits Lando might have overtaken Oscar, but here you need a substantial pace advantage to do that.
We were happy to give Oscar the opportunity while still protecting our overall race strategy." Stella added that the race was executed well from a principles‑based standpoint and praised both drivers for adhering to the team’s approach, noting that the margins were thin and many variables could have been considered. "It was a well‑run race in terms of racing principles, and I thank Oscar and Lando because without two drivers who accept and support our way of racing, none of this would be possible." Even after withdrawing his public criticism of McLaren, Piastri remained angry with Sainz for the incident. He told reporters, "I knew there were blue‑flags, they were shown on all the marshal signals, and I was right behind him in that sector.
I couldn’t believe what happened. Getting hit by a lapped car is never something you expect, and today it happened, so I don’t care if he didn’t see me. The lack of awareness is unacceptable." Sainz defended his actions post‑race, citing confusion over blue‑flag signals and the fact that he was battling Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso for position, which he claimed provided a "good excuse" for the collision.
He also suggested that Piastri could have exercised more caution given the high stakes of a race‑winning situation. Piastri responded dismissively, "He’s often critical of others and has been called out for being frustrating on‑track. When you do something like that, maybe you should look in the mirror a bit." The Formula 1 calendar will resume after the summer hiatus with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, scheduled for 21‑23 August. All sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, and fans can stream the coverage via NOW without a long‑term contract, with the option to cancel at any time.