Following the McLaren crash in the Singapore Sprint: Proposal from former team principal Szafnauer

Disappointment was written all over Andrea Stella’s face when his two drivers collided in the Singapore Sprint just before the chequered flag was waved, causing them both to spin out of control at the same time. The McLaren team principal knew that this meant eight World Championship points had gone, because whilst Lando Norris was able to carry on and finish eighth, his team-mate Oscar Piastri suffered a bitter retirement.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella: Team interests come first

The Australian was well on his way to finishing fourth when his team-mate made a move in the fifth corner, triggering the disaster for the Papaya squad. Stella described it as an unacceptable scenario, emphasising: “The team’s interests far outweigh those of any individual.”

But that is precisely the crux of the matter, as Otmar Szafnauer knows. The former team principal revealed on the ‘High Performance Racing Podcast’ in conversation with former Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley what he would say to Norris and Piastri if he were in charge of the McLaren team: “Even if you swap places, nothing changes for us. That’s a bad decision. And the only reason you’ve done it is because you want one more point than your team-mate, and that’s not what this is about. You have to make that clear to them.”

Could a contract clause provide a solution?

The 62-year-old has an idea on how to reconcile the team’s interests with the drivers’ objectives: “They need to link the team’s championship position to a nice bonus for both drivers and set that out in the contract. Then the drivers will think twice before pulling a stunt like that. If the team loses, they lose out too.”

However, Szafnauer also shows understanding for the ambition that led to Norris’s move: “They’re racing drivers, and if you’re driving behind a team-mate whom you consider to be slower and you see a gap, you’ll give it a go if there’s nothing of the sort in your contract. After all, you’re a racer.”

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