Stella says Norris and Piastri collision ‘not acceptable’ as he admits Briton has ‘paid a price in the championship’

Andrea Stella has admitted that the contact that occurred between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the Canadian Grand Prix was “not acceptable”, with the McLaren team boss conceding that Norris “paid a price in the championship” after retiring from the race as a result.

Norris had been chasing Piastri in a battle for fourth place during the closing stages of the race when he initially got ahead at the hairpin. After Piastri then retook the position, Norris tried again to find a way past on the straight, but the Briton ran into the back of his team mate’s car.

This forced Norris to pull off the track and out of the race, while Piastri managed to continue and held onto fourth place after pitting under the subsequent Safety Car. Norris later apologised for the incident, with the 25-year-old blaming himself for a “misjudgement”, and he was also hit with a five-second penalty by the stewards for being at fault.

Asked for his take on the collision on F1 TV’s post-race show, Stella explained: “Well, we never want to see a McLaren car involved in an accident and definitely we don’t want to see the two McLarens having contact, so this situation is a situation that we know is not acceptable.

“At the same time, we appreciate that Lando immediately owned it and apologised to the team, which for us sort of reset the situation. I’m sure he has an important learning point coming from this race, he paid a price in the championship.

“Like I said, we appreciate his behaviour straight after the accident and we will go racing again.”

While the squad have always been clear on ‘papaya rules’, Stella was pushed on whether the incident might alter the situation going forwards.

“It doesn’t change things because it’s a misjudgement,” the Italian said. “It’s not like the driver had an intent that was beyond the principles, it was just a misjudgement of the proximity to the car ahead.

“If Lando had a different reaction, then there would have been certainly serious conversations to have, but I think he immediately realised that he simply miscalculated, this caused a problem for himself, for the team, and it was very close to causing a problem for Oscar.”

McLaren CEO Zak Brown, meanwhile, praised Norris for being open about his mistake as he took to social media to share his thoughts on the race in Montreal, in which George Russell and Kimi Antonelli took a 1-3 result for Mercedes while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was second.

“Congrats Mercedes and Kimi on that first podium,” Brown wrote on Instagram. “Great stops from the team, with fast cars and drivers. And so, it happened. Appreciate the candor, Lando. Solid race Oscar. We learn. We go again together.”