McLaren explains why it felt Oscar Piastri's move was 'over the top'

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has explained why the team felt Oscar Piastri's lock-up and near-miss into crashing into Lando Norris was so marginal.

During the Austrian GP as the pair battled for the lead, Piastri moved to the inside of Turn 4 in an attempt to pass, but was forced to lock-up and nearly collide with Norris as he tried to avoid the sister car.

He was quickly told by engineer Tom Stallard that the move was effectively over the top and not to do so again, with Norris pitting soon afterwards, effectively ending the race, as Norris went onto win.

Piastri's lead was trimmed to 15 points in the drivers' championship following Norris's win, as Stella explained why the team felt the move was potentially in breach of the so-called Papaya Rules.

"The fact that Oscar acknowledged, and said that he was sorry for that situation, means that he knew that, especially at that phase of the stint when your front tyres are quite aged, if you go for that gap, you may be not entirely in control of the car, you may lock up," Stella told media including RacingNews365. 

"The issue that I saw there is that the tyres were locked, and with a lock-up, you lose control of the car, and we don't want the proximity of the two cars being determined by something that we are not fully in control of.

"That's our interpretation, which I think coincides with the interpretation of Oscar.

"From every situation, we will take the opportunity to review. We do it together. The conversations are always very good and constructive, and we will fine-tune even more for the future.

"I am proud of Oscar, because as soon as he crossed the finish line, he opened the radio and he said: 'Sorry for the situation in corner four, my bad.' 

"So I think it's all very clear. I am so refreshed by how the team reviewed the situation in Canada, which was a benign situation; it was just a misjudgment, and we have come out stronger and even more united from there."