McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has pointed the finger at Max Verstappen’s driving style as the catalyst for the collision with Lando Norris during the Austrian Grand Prix. The incident, which resulted in punctures for both drivers, handed George Russell the lead and eventual victory at the Red Bull Ring.
The stewards ruled Verstappen solely responsible for the clash, imposing a 10-second penalty on the Dutch driver. Stella did not hold back in his assessment of the situation, expressing that similar incidents in the past, notably during Verstappen's title battle with Lewis Hamilton in 2021, were not addressed with sufficient severity.
"The entire population of the world knows who was responsible except for a group of people," Stella remarked, highlighting his frustration with the lack of accountability. He asserted, "If you don't address these things honestly, they will come back. They weren't addressed properly in the past when there were fights with Lewis that needed to be punished in a harsher way."
Stella is calling on the FIA to reassess and reinforce its racing rules, stressing the need for clear boundaries and unequivocal regulatory enforcement to prevent such accidents in the future. "The regulations must be enforced in a way that is effective. When a car is out of the race, as a consequence, then the punishment needs to be proportionate to the outcome," he insisted.
Recurrent Issues
According to Stella, Verstappen's aggressive maneuvers were not isolated to this race. "Before this episode, twice he moved in braking. It is evident that we have to enforce the way to go racing," he pointed out, suggesting a pattern of behavior that has gone unchecked.
Stella viewed the incident as symptomatic of unresolved issues from past seasons. "In every kind of human dynamics, if you don't address things, as soon as you introduce competition, as soon as you introduce a sense of injustice, these things escalate. It's like anything," he explained.
Referring to the recent clash, Stella said, "Here there was an incomplete job, let's say, that comes from the past, and is a legacy that as soon as there was a trigger, immediately there is an outburst." He believes the incident should be seen as an opportunity for the FIA and the sport to tighten up, reinforcing some of the rules already in place.
Impact on McLaren
The collision had immediate and significant consequences for McLaren and Norris, resulting in lost points and a missed victory opportunity. "For us, there's a lot of points gone. And a victory which I think Lando deserved to have the opportunity to have," Stella lamented.
Stella expressed a desire for cleaner, fairer racing without collisions. "It could have been Max, it could have been Lando. That's racing. But racing with collisions, we don't like it," he said, underscoring the need for stricter rule enforcement to maintain the integrity of the sport.
Stella's comments paint a picture of a sport grappling with the balance between competitive driving and fair play. As the season progresses, the focus will undoubtedly be on how the FIA responds to these calls for tighter regulations and whether changes will be implemented to ensure incidents like this do not happen in the future.
For now, the aftermath of the Austrian Grand Prix serves as a stark reminder of the potential consequences of aggressive driving, with calls for reform echoing louder than ever. The racing world will be closely watching to see if these demands lead to tangible changes that promote both safety and fairness on the track.