McLaren reveal Norris 'regret' during Verstappen F1 title fight

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has revealed one regret the squad holds from the ongoing F1 campaign.

The Woking-based squad is currently leading the constructors' championship as it looks to secure its first F1 title in 16 years.

However, it has Ferrari breathing down its neck, while Red Bull is not sitting too distantly in the constructors' table.

Lando Norris' quest for a drivers' championship appears all but over following Max Verstappen's dominant victory in Brazil earlier this month.

The duo have come together on a number of occasions this year, including the Austrian Grand Prix which resulted in a non-finish for Norris.

Stella detailed the team holds “regret” over missing out on the points in Austria.

“When I say keep doing what we are doing, I obviously mean this in a broad sense, but definitely I also mean this in a very specific sense,” Stella told media including RacingNews365.

“I think we got some learning, for instance, from Austria. We got a little too close.

“And the points we're missing from Austria, because of having had a proper collision and then being knocked out of the race, are points that we regret.

“We don't really regret many other points in this season, potentially the one in Austin where we still believe that the final classification isn't correct, but we respect the work of the stewards.”

McLaren deny Norris must change racing style

At the two races prior to Brazil, Verstappen and Norris had more on-track instances, which involved Norris being pushed wide by Verstappen.

Verstappen went unpunished in the USA but was handed a duo of 10-second time penalties in Mexico.

Stella has denied Norris must change his driving style and racing ethics when it comes to battling Verstappen.

“We have tried with a right of review to find some correction of that situation that happened in Austin,” he said. “This didn't happen. We move on.

“I think from Lando's point of view, that's the way it should be going racing. Lando reflects, also, in the way he goes racing, our own values.

“We race fair, we race in a correct way, we race in a sportsmanlike way.

“And then ultimately in this kind of close fights, there's a third party that is the stewarding. We trust the stewarding. I think in Mexico this worked very well and we had good racing.”