Despite welcoming Norris’ apology and team-focused approach, Andrea Stella insists McLaren still has work to do following Saturday’s Sprint collision at the 2026 F1 Singapore GP.
The McLaren teammates collided on the final lap of Saturday’s Sprint as Norris attempted to overtake Oscar Piastri on the inside into Turn 5. The contact sent the Australian into a spin and into the barriers, forcing him to retire, while Norris recovered to finish P8 and score one point. The incident proved costly for McLaren, with the pair running P4 and P5 before the incident.
Norris: “I let down the team”
Although Norris initially defended his decision to attempt the overtake, arguing there was a significant gap, he accepted post-Grand Prix today that he shouldn’t have attempted the move on Saturday.
“No, it was pretty straightforward. I can’t attempt what I did. I should never have attempted it in the first place even if the move was on,” he said, speaking in the print media pen after Sunday’s race.
“I’ve got to think more of the team that I represent more than myself. So yeah, it was a mistake on my part. I let down the team. I’ve also apologised to all of them. I owe them all an apology. We’ll do better next time.”
Notably, the reigning World Champion showed a more team-focused approach during Sunday’s race. Unable to challenge Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli for the final podium position, Norris asked whether he could help Piastri close the gap by backing Lewis Hamilton up. However, the team told him to keep going, with Piastri ultimately overtaking Hamilton on the final lap to secure P5, finishing behind Norris in P4.
Stella on how McLaren will move forward
Reflecting on Norris’s offer to help Piastri during the 2026 F1 Singapore GP, Stella praised the Briton’s gesture but made clear that McLaren’s team discussions were still ongoing.
“So what we had yesterday, I classified it as unacceptable, which is a statement that comes from the team principal, but I was very encouraged by the part that is a statement that very rapidly came from our drivers as well,” he explained. “So we are aligned as to how we want to lead this team forward in a joint effort between the team and the drivers. The conversations that we are having, they are not finished, but it’s not because we need to go back discussing if Lando was alongside Oscar, that’s not the interesting bit.
“For me the interesting bit is a reflection that all the stakeholders, the team, the drivers will have to make around leading together the team, embracing constantly from inside the cockpit the interest of the team as something that is superior to any particular singular individual interest. And while the conversations from this point of view, they are not concluded, and there’s more we can do to become a more united and even stronger team, I’m pleased that Lando at some stage in the race adopted this way of thinking.
“This is what I expect as a team principal, this is what the 1,000 people that work at McLaren expect from our drivers, so it’s good that we have had this example and I expect definitely more of that in the future, independently of the fact that they will be heard in the radio or they will happen behind the closed door in every meeting or in the way we approach our race plan,” Stella concluded.
