P1racenews AI automatic summary:
McLaren boss Andrea Stella has revealed that it elected to not swap its drivers in Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix as it wanted Oscar Piastri to pressure Charles Leclerc. Piastri was chasing down Leclerc in the closing laps at Monza on newer rubber, but he was unable to overcome the margin to beat the one-stopping […]
Piastri attempted to chase down Leclerc in the closing laps at Monza on newer tires, but couldn’t close the gap to beat the one-stopping Ferrari for the win. Climbing from second to first on the opening lap, Piastri took the lead after a bold pass on team-mate Lando Norris at the chicane. Despite initially pulling away, Ferrari’s strategic one-stop with Leclerc ultimately paid off. McLaren faced questions for not letting Norris pass Piastri for more points, as they hoped Piastri’s pressure might force an error from Leclerc. Team principal Stella clarified that McLaren never considered instructing Piastri to let Norris pass but focused on inducing mistakes from Leclerc instead. Stella denied that McLaren would have switched positions had Leclerc not been a factor in the race, emphasizing a need to review strategies for future races. Stella emphasized that team orders in Hungary were a different scenario, where the team controlled pit stop sequences to swap positions.
