McLaren boss justifies Norris Piastri team order call in Italian GP

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has said the decision to swap Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris’ positions late in the Italian Grand Prix was not solely about fairness, but of “consistency with our principles.”

World Championship leader Piastri was the first of the two drivers to pit late on in the race, but a slow stop for Norris meant he fell behind his teammate upon re-entering the circuit.

Stella: McLaren team order ‘a matter of fairness and consistency with our principles’

With Norris having been ahead of Piastri all race long before the stops, the Australian was asked to move aside for his teammate before being free to race once again.

Piastri questioned the decision before ultimately relenting, telling race engineer Tom Stallard: “We said that a slow pit stop was part of racing, so I don’t really get what’s changed here, but if you really want me to do it, then I’ll do it.”

With the order re-established, Norris was able to race away from Piastri once again and close in by three points in the Drivers’ Championship battle.

While the McLaren drivers were unable to keep up with Max Verstappen on the day, Stella explained the choice to pit Piastri first came down to protecting his position from Charles Leclerc behind, who had already taken his stop.

But after inverting his drivers’ positions, the McLaren team principal wanted to make the team’s position clear on how events unfolded.

“I think that the pit stop situation is not only a matter of fairness, it’s a matter of consistency with our principles,” Stella told PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher and other publications at Monza.

“However the championship goes, what’s important is that the championship runs within the principles and the racing values that we have at McLaren, and that we have created together with our drivers.

More key statistics following the Italian Grand Prix

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

👉 2025 Italian Grand Prix – F1 standings after Round 16 of F1 2025 season

“The situation whereby we swapped the drivers is not only related to the pit stop, and this is pretty useful that I clarified, it’s also related to the fact that we wanted to sequence the pit stop of the two cars by stopping Oscar first and then Lando – and we had the clear intent that these should have not led to a swap of position.

“It was just done because we were covering Leclerc, and at the same time, we were waiting until the last possible moment to see if there had been a red flag or a safety car.

“So we pursued the team interest, and to capitalise as much as possible on this interest, we needed to go first with Oscar, then with Lando. But, clear intent was, this is not going to deliver a swap of positions.

“So the fact that we went first with Oscar, compounded by the slow pit stop of Lando, then led to a swap of positions, and we thought it was absolutely the right thing to go back to the situation, pre-existing at the pit stop, and then let the guys race.

“This is what we did, and this is what we think is in compliance with our principles.

“We will review the case. We will review also the situation whereby it was a slow pit stop in isolation.

“We already have our principles in relation to that. We will review our principles in relation to that and reinforce the direction, if this is in agreement with our drivers.”

When asked about what a review might entail and whether or not that will lead to a change in McLaren’s racing guidelines, coined as ‘papaya rules’ last year, Stella clarified that a review does not necessarily mean a change in how the team goes racing.

Rather, those involved will use the opportunity to see how best they can continue to race, and confirm it with both Norris and Piastri.

“We need to first of all agree on what the word ‘review’ means,” Stella stated.

“Reviewing is the foundation of pursuing excellence. If you think that whatever you do is good and you are not going to an individual or a team, on anything you do – even the thing you do perfectly – simply, you are not going to progress.

“So for me, reviewing it doesn’t mean like ‘certainly, we will let you change this.’ Potentially, we will review them [processes], and we will further align on them, and we will confirm them.

“The fact that I use this word doesn’t mean that there will be changes. The fact that I used this word means that’s how we approach things at McLaren, and this review, which is so essential in engineering, in operation, and does apply in the way you go racing with your drivers.”

Read next: What Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri said about the race-defining team order at Italian GP