McLaren make F1 team order declaration after Lando Norris-Oscar Piastri crash

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has denied it will implement team orders for its drivers following their collision at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris collided with the rear of Oscar Piastri’s car at the Montreal race as they battled for position, resulting in terminal damage for the former.

Norris conceded he was to blame for the incident, which resulted in Piastri extending his championship advantage to 22 points.

The two title protagonists have enjoyed a harmonious relationship to date as the Canada incident marked the first flashpoint between the pair.

But McLaren seek to implement measures to ensure it doesn’t happen again, Stella asserted it will not extend to restricting the drivers from racing.

“Being free to race and the being clear as to how we go racing is a value of racing,” Stella told media including RacingNews365.

“It’s a value of racing that we want to try and exercise and respect as much as we can.

“Rather than every time that we have proximity between the two cars, then having control from the pit wall. [Racing] like that, racing may soon become a bit of an artefact.”

The McLaren duo are the clear favourites for the F1 title this year, with the Woking-based squad winning seven out of the 10 races to date.

Stella stated McLaren is wary of the dangers in interfering with the title fight as both Norris and Piastri squabble for their first F1 championship.

“We want to give Lando and Oscar opportunities to race and opportunities to be, at the end of the season, in the position that they deserve to be in based on their merit, based on their performance, based on the racing quality that they have expressed through the season,” Stella said.

“Rather than being at the end of the season and realising that the points have been controlled more by the team, rather than the quality of their driving.

“This is not necessarily a simple and straight exercise, but we want to try and do it as best as we can.

“I don’t foresee the [Canadian] episode will change our approach from this point of view – if anything, it will reinforce and strengthen that the principles we have require more caution by our drivers.

“If we say that there should be no contact between the two McLarens, we need to have the margins to make sure that we have no contact.

“Even if in a DRS situation, the car may get almost a little bit sucked onto the other car and cause this kind of misjudgement as to the distance.”