McLaren: Norris and Piastri free despite the crash in Canada.

McLaren Keeps Racing Freedom, but There Will Be Conversations After the Canadian Crash

McLaren will allow Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to compete freely for the Formula 1 title, although internal discussions are expected after the incident at the Canadian Grand Prix. Norris took responsibility after hitting the rear of his teammate, Piastri’s, car while trying to overtake him in a battle for fourth place, with three laps to go. The clash between the title contenders, with Piastri extending his lead to 22 points, was the central theme at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal.

There will definitely be good conversations, but they will happen once we are all rested and calm.

Andrea Stella, McLaren director

McLaren director Andrea Stella stated that the team will discuss how to prevent this from happening again. The goal is to “preserve parity and equality in the way we race at McLaren between our two drivers.” Stella added that the freedom to compete is a fundamental value in racing and that they want to respect it as much as possible, avoiding constant control from the pit wall. The intention is to give Lando and Oscar the opportunity to compete and reach the end of the season in the position they deserve.

Stella emphasized that the points should reflect the performance of the drivers, rather than team orders. She does not foresee that the incident will change the current approach, but rather reinforce the need for caution on the part of the drivers. Stella described the incident as a simple miscalculation of distance, and acknowledged the responsibility assumed by Norris. She assured that Norris has the full support of the team.

On this, I want to be completely clear: I fully support Lando. We will have conversations, and they may even be tough. But there is no doubt about the support we give to Lando.

Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal

Piastri has won five of the ten races so far, compared to Norris’s two, with 14 races remaining. The next race will take place in Austria on June 29.