McLaren have clarified ‘a lot of things’ after Monza controversy – Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piastri says McLaren have discussed their approach to racing after he was controversially ordered aside for title rival Lando Norris but the championship leader would expect the same decision to be made again.

A slow pit-stop for Norris a fortnight ago at Monza saw him drop from second to third behind team-mate Piastri before McLaren told their drivers to swap positions.

Norris, who cut Piastri’s championship lead to 31 points as a result, had allowed Piastri to pit earlier than him.

The Australian says he accepted the decision due to the specific set of circumstances and backed the team to continue to preserve the best interest of both title challengers.

“Naturally there have been thoughts, we have had good discussions with the team. We have clarified a lot of things, we know how we will go racing going forwards,” Piastri said ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“I can’t get into every scenario. From Monza there was another factor outside of the slow pit stop, being the order we pitted in.

“That was a contributing factor as to why we swapped. You can’t plan for every scenario that is going to happen. I respect the team’s decisions and trust that they will make the right ones.

“I think in exactly the same scenario, I would expect it to be the same. The likelihood that you will have the same scenario is virtually impossible. Every scenario is going to look different.”

When initially asked to allow Norris past, Piastri said on the team radio: “We said that a slow pit-stop was part of racing, so I don’t really get what changed here.”

Piastri added: “I stand by that comment and that is a decision we have made that a slow pit stop is a part of racing. In the car at the time the context was not there about what else had happened.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who oversaw a fierce team-mate title scrap between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, warned McLaren that they had set a precedent which would be difficult to undo.

Norris was booed on the podium at Monza by a small section of the fans and Piastri accepts criticism of McLaren’s decision to engineer the result.

“The decision we made as a team, there is no right answer,” he added. “Am I surprised, not really, it is a big moment from the race and I feel like a lot of fans are quick to jump on things that are controversial.

“I do think that we have enough freedom to control our own destiny in the championship.”

McLaren can wrap up the constructors’ championship with a record seven races to spare this weekend. The reigning champions lead Ferrari by a massive 337 points.

“Last season went down to final race, this year the car has been a step better, the team has been performing very well,” Piastri said.

“Much more of a sense of inevitability about this year which is an amazing position to be in.”