McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has stood by the tactical decisions his crew made during the Hungarian Grand Prix, despite Oscar Piastri’s initial criticism after he was overtaken by teammate Lando Norris. The Australian driver had started the race from third on the grid and quickly moved up, passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and pole‑sitter Norris in the first few corners to seize the lead by the end of lap one. The team’s early plan was to give Piastri, who was ahead on track, priority in the pit‑stop sequence. However, a rapid response from Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton during the second round of stops forced McLaren to adjust its strategy on the fly.
Piastri pitted in an effort to keep Hamilton behind, but the combination of Norris’s stronger pace on fresh rubber and an unfortunate contact incident with back‑marker Carlos Sainz of Williams erased his advantage. After the collision with Sainz – for which the Spaniard received a penalty – Piastri vented his frustration over the team radio. His irritation grew when Norris, having already completed his stop, re‑joined the circuit ahead of him. Later, Piastri softened his tone and admitted that the timing of McLaren’s pit stops was reasonable, and that his request to delay Norris’s stop after the Sainz incident was "not reasonable".
Stella explained the reasoning behind the split‑second choices. "If you examine the race telemetry, you’ll see that when Hamilton entered the pits, he was in a position to undercut both McLarens, so we had to react," he said. "Our goal was to keep a McLaren in a winning position ahead of Hamilton. At that moment, Oscar was leading, so we elected to stop him first.
That opened a different strategic window for Lando." He continued, "We weren’t favouring one driver over the other for personal reasons; we were reacting to the threat posed by Ferrari. Lando on used tyres was not significantly slower than the cars on fresh rubber, which ultimately allowed him to claim victory. The win came down to pure pace, not a team‑engineered switch. The team’s priority was to neutralise Hamilton’s challenge." Piastri’s race ended prematurely when a gearbox failure struck while he was running in second place.
In a post‑race interview with Sky Sports F1, he reflected, "I was hit by Carlos, and in the heat of the moment I hoped the team might hold Lando’s stop so I could stay in the lead, but that wasn’t realistic. I was simply upset about the incident. The timing of my own stop was fine – we needed to beat Lewis, and that’s what we aimed to do." Before the collision, Norris had been pressing the pit wall, insisting he felt faster than his teammate and urging the engineers to let him pit first.
Stella defended the decision to reject Norris’s request, noting that the pit wall constantly evaluates multiple scenarios. "We look at every angle – a potential race win, the maximum points haul for the team, and consistency in our racing philosophy. Oscar earned the lead fairly in the opening corners, so he deserved the chance to fight for the win. In other venues Lando might have overtaken Oscar, but here a substantial pace advantage was required." Stella added, "We were happy to give Oscar the opportunity to contest the victory while also protecting our overall race strategy.
The margins are always thin, and there are many variables to consider. From a racing‑principles perspective, today’s race was well executed, and I thank both Oscar and Lando for embracing our approach." Even after withdrawing his public criticism of the team, Piastri remained displeased with Sainz for the collision.
He later told reporters, "I saw the blue‑flag signals, but they were ambiguous. I was right behind Carlos for a sector and then – bang – I was hit. Being taken out by a lapped car is something you never anticipate, and today it happened.
Whether he saw me or not is irrelevant; the lack of clear communication is unacceptable." Sainz defended his actions, claiming that inconsistent blue‑flag signals and a battle with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso for position contributed to the incident. He also suggested that Piastri could have exercised more caution given the high stakes of a race‑winning fight.
Piastri dismissed Sainz’s remarks, replying, "He’s quick to criticise others, and he’s faced his own share of on‑track frustration. When you cause a collision like that, maybe you should take a look in the mirror." The Formula 1 calendar will resume after the summer hiatus with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, scheduled for 21‑23 August, and all sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Viewers can stream Sky Sports via NOW with no contract and the option to cancel at any time.