McLaren boss backs Oscar Piastri's 'opinion' regarding Lando Norris in British GP

McLaren's Andrea Stella has applauded Oscar Piastri's suggestion in regard to Lando Norris at the British Grand Prix. The duo secured a 1-2 finish with Norris coming out as the victor.

Piastri, while in the lead of the race, was given a 10-second time penalty for driving erratically following the end of a safety car on lap 21. He served this penalty during a pitstop, and this allowed Lando Norris to get ahead of him.

In line with this, Piastri, via team radio, suggested that he should be allowed to overtake Norris; this request was eventually declined but was taken in a positive light by Andrea Stella. He was pleased with the Australian driver for not hesitating in stating his opinion. He said, via Autosport:

"We always tell our drivers, don't keep things in the back of your mind while you drive. If you have a point, if you have a suggestion, if you want to let us know what you're thinking, just say it. And then we will evaluate [opinions from] other people, we will make a decision, we will come back to you.

"What Oscar did is exactly what we incentivized our drivers to do; he communicated, he expressed his opinion, which we evaluated."

The 2025 Formula 1 season is 12 rounds down, and following the end of a chaotic British GP, Lando Norris has closed the gap on Oscar Piastri in the Drivers' Championship. Piastri is leading with 234 points, but Norris is not too far behind with 226.

"I knew what the answer was going to be": Oscar Piastri on British GP plea

While Andrea Stella has applauded Oscar Piastri for giving his suggestion around P1 at the British GP, the former knew that he was not going to be allowed to overtake Lando Norris.

In a post-race interaction, Piastri made it known that he requested McLaren to swap positions with a 'small glimmer of hope.'

"I knew what the answer was going to be before I asked, but I just wanted a small glimmer of hope that maybe I could get it back. But no, I knew it wasn't going to happen," he said, via the aforementioned source.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are both fighting for the maiden F1 championship in the ongoing campaign. They are not giving each other an inch in the cut-throat fight and they even collided with each other at the 2025 Canadian GP.

When it comes to the statistics, Piastri and Norris have both amassed 10 podiums each, but the former has so far secured more victories. Piastri has five in comparison to Norris' four.

Notably, because of their intense tussle in the Drivers' championship fight, McLaren is comfortably leading the Constructors' tussle with 460 points. Second place Ferrari is way down with 222 points.