![McLaren team-mates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri made contact during the Italian Grand Prix. Image: XPB Images](https://speedcafe.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/XPB_1235231_12x8.jpg)
McLaren boss Andrea Stella will review the clash between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri during the Italian Grand Prix that resulted in the pair making contact.
The McLaren duo came together shortly after Piastri stopped for the first time on Lap 24.
On the inside approaching the first chicane as he exited the pits, with Norris to his outside, the two collided as they negotiated the tight right-left complex.
While there was no damage to either car, Stella took a dim view of the incident.
“There should never, ever be contact between two McLaren cars,” he began.
“There was a contact which doesn’t fit the way we go racing at McLaren.”
Piastri had headed his team-mate in the opening laps, with the pair running seventh and eighth prior to the opening round of pit stops.
Norris stopped on the previous lap as the McLaren strategists covered off a possible undercut from Fernando Alonso, who had pitted on lap 21.
The undercut proved powerful in Monza and meant Piastri was vulnerable when he rejoined, with the resultant clash to now be reviewed by Stella.
“It’s always a little tricky when you leave the pits, especially on hard tyres,” Stella said.
“Certainly Oscar was trying to see a very good place for himself so that he could keep the position.
“But on colder tyres, this could be slightly more difficult than he might have anticipated.
“So I think we could absolutely conclude that this is just a little misjudgment.
“The forum is there’s no problem at all, both drivers race and they were aware that there must be no contact between two McLarens, and it was just an issue with the execution.
“We all have issues with execution, of what do we do, and when drivers do that, it becomes very visible.
He added: “You just review things, as you do with anything that is technical, operational, racing.
“What is important is to have a clear perimeter as to what you deem acceptable and what you deem unacceptable.
“It’s not an emotional thing because just like you do with other things, you deal with racing in a similar way.
“And this is very clear that, for any driver, there’s something bigger than them – it’s the team.”
Stella added that the review will not necessarily result in the blame being placed on either Piastri or Norris, suggesting there is also an onus on the strategy team to not place the drivers in at-risk situations.
“If the contact is due to the fact that there was pressure because of the undercut, then we have something to review because it means we put the drivers, we put the team at risk – this is not acceptable,” he insisted.
Piastri’s race unravelled in the final stint after being pushed off the road by Lewis Hamilton on lap 41, damaging his front wing.
That dropped him to 14th before clawing his way back to battle with Liam Lawson and Logan Sargeant in the final laps.
The scrap with Lawson saw Piastri leave the track at the second chicane, for which he was handed a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage.
As a result, he crossed the line 11th but was classified 12th once the penalty was applied, while Norris finished eighth.