McLaren boss offers telling response to Oscar Piastri crash

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella admitted that he plans to have a conversation with Oscar Piastri following his race-ending crash in the Sao Paulo GP Sprint.

Piastri spun out of the race while running third, losing traction at Curva do Sol before impacting the barrier on the outside of the long left-hander.

Andrea Stella reacts to Oscar Piastri crash in Brazilian GP Sprint

The McLaren driver was one of three to suffer that fate in quick succession, with Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto also coming unstuck on the same corner on the same lap.

The trio all looked to have dropped a wheel onto the exit kerb at Turn 2, lighting up the rear wheels and sending the cars into a spin.

Of the three, only Nico Hulkenberg was able to recover his car, with Sauber repairing the wounded machine in pit lane under the red flag that resulted.

While a disappointing end for Piastri, it carried an extra blow as teammate and title rival Lando Norris won the 24-lap hit out. The difference between the pair, with four races and one sprint left in F1 2025, is now nine points.

“Mixed feelings,” said Stella of the result for his team.

“Mixed feelings because we cash in a victory with Lando. We were in a strong position with Oscar, but unfortunate.

“Mixed conditions, tricky conditions, you put a wheel too far, and we saw three cars in a single lap in the same point, crashed on the barriers.

“It’s just an episode,” he added.

“Oscar has been fast this weekend, so we look now forward to reorganising, regrouping, repair the car.

“The big points are tomorrow and capitalise on the speeding qualifying, and then tomorrow with Oscar.”

Piastri had qualified third for the Sprint, and maintained that position off the start and in the opening laps before his retirement.

The Australian, who led the championship for much of the season, was also competitive in opening practice, bouncing back from a tough run of events in the United States and Mexico.

It’s left Stella confident that Piastri will bounce back from the quickly with no ill effects ahead of qualifying.

“He’s a very functional mind, and that’s certainly the conversation we are going to have,” Stella said.

“The most important point is that the speed is there. If there’s an episode when you put a wheel on a kerb and you lose it, it’s just an episode.

“We look forward to the qualifying. We look forward to the race.”

Lando Norris vs Oscar Piastri: McLaren head-to-head scores for F1 2025

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

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

Speaking after his crash, Piastri was already looking ahead.

“I just dipped a wheel on the white line of the kerb and around I went,” he explained.

“A silly mistake really, an unfortunate mistake, so that’s it.

“Just trying to put this behind [me],” he added to Sky Sports.

“Obviously, there’s a lot more points on offer tomorrow, so the better job I can do this afternoon of trying to give myself a good starting spot, the better we’ll be.”

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