McLaren boss makes his feelings crystal clear about the hair-raising moment between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri during the F1 Austrian GP

McLaren boss Andrea Stella admitted that the team had to keep Oscar Piastri aware that he almost stepped over the mark when he locked up his tires while trying to overtake Lando Norris. The F1 Austrian GP was an entertaining race, where the top two drivers in the championship had free rein to attack each other and fight for the win.

Lando Norris started the race from pole position, and Oscar Piastri was in P3. The Australian had a brilliant start and would quickly dispatch Charles Leclerc to jump up to P2.

While Saturday had indicated that Lando Norris had buckets of pace in the bag for him to exploit, Sunday was not the same. Oscar Piastri was able to keep himself in the DRS zone of his British teammate and attack him whenever he had the chance.

One of those moments saw Oscar Piastri jump Lando Norris, only for the Brit to outmaneuver him into the next straight. There was, however, one hair-raising moment where Piastri's attempt to go for a late lunge meant that he locked up his tires and almost clattered into the side of his McLaren teammate.

Talking to Sky Sports afterwards, the McLaren boss revealed that the team had to tell Oscar Piastri during the race that the locking-up moment was a bit over the mark. He said:

"We needed to give Oscar a bit of advice in terms of the manoeuvre in corner four, which he actually acknowledged. I’m proud of him for how he said straight after the chequered flag that he was sorry for that manoeuvre, he went a little too far. It’s not easy. It’s Formula 1, he’s racing hard, but it’s a good day."

McLaren boss looks back at the race

One thing that stood out very early in the race was the fact that McLaren just had no competition from behind. Ferrari was nowhere, as neither Charles Leclerc nor Lewis Hamilton had any pace. Max Verstappen had already DNF'd while Mercedes was struggling with overheating tires.

As a result, both McLaren drivers were given free rein where they could race each other while keeping everything clean. Looking back at the race and how the team allowed the drivers to race, Stella said:

"It was intense racing but that’s what we are here for, a race. It was an open race today. Here in Austria, it’s a special track in which, when you get the DRS, you stay hooked to the car ahead. This is what happened in the first stint, because the pace between Lando and Oscar was very similar."

He added:

"They stayed together and at the end of the stint Oscar actually had a couple of chances. There was also another one in the middle of the stint. But we are very happy, very proud of how they handled the situation."

With Lando Norris picking up the win, the drivers' championship now comes down to the McLaren duo, as Max Verstappen is more or less out of the title picture.