McLaren downplays Oscar Piastri decision in Lando Norris title fight

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has downplayed Oscar Piastri's decision to adopt an old front suspension design as Lando Norris took the new one in the Canadian GP.

A new front suspension upgrade was delivered in Montreal for McLaren, but Piastri elected to race with the old design, with Norris using the new one, which the team hopes can increase the feeling for the drivers through the steering wheel, something Norris has complained of lacking at times in 2025.

With the two McLarens now 22 points apart in the drivers' standings, and with it increasingly likely that a McLaren will win the drivers' title, team principal Stella has downplayed Piastri's decision. 

"It is possible that the two drivers will adopt a different specification of front suspension, but we are talking about minor changes from a suspension geometry point of view," Stella told media, including RacingNews365. 

"It is certainly nothing that is dramatically impactful from a performance point of view, and it just affects the way in which the drivers perceive what is happening with the tyre through the front suspension and the steering wheel.

"So it really has to do with some preferential aspects of how the drivers drive the car, rather than an increase of grip on the car, so in itself, it is a small difference with the different specifications between the two drivers.

"There are some other things from a suspension point of view which are actually slightly different between Lando and Oscar, but they are a part of minor parameters, and it is certainly nothing political. 

"In itself, it is just preference and not a difference in car specification."

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