Stella: The team's principles are more important than just points.

      At the start of the Singapore Grand Prix there was an incident between McLaren drivers that carried certain consequences, which, however, did not prevent the British team from securing the Constructors' Championship early.

      McLaren management promised Oscar Piastri a thorough analysis of the episode, partly because the Australian considered the team's decision to allow Norris to keep his position after contact between the orange cars on the exit of Turn 3 on the opening lap to be unfair.

      The incident itself did not look particularly dramatic and did not require intervention by McLaren or the FIA. However, it should not be seen in isolation but in the context of other episodes that occurred over the course of the season, when team management still deemed it necessary to intervene to ensure the nature of the title fight was correct and fair.

      But Piastri has certain grounds to doubt that the principles of fairness are being fully observed. Andrea Stella partly acknowledged this when commenting on the outcomes of the Singapore weekend. In his words, maintaining "unity of the ranks" is very important, though not easy.

      The Race cites the team principal as saying: "Every time we start a conversation with the drivers, we always have to remind ourselves that we are facing a very complex task. When a team is competing in the championship, you cannot actually take both drivers' interests equally into account — simply because each has their own aspirations. This is the fundamental principle on which McLaren's approach to racing is based. We stand by the idea that drivers should have the right to compete. At the same time, actions must be considered and consistent.

      So far I have had every reason to be proud of how Lando and Oscar participate in this process, because it is precisely thanks to having drivers like them that the team manages to find the right approaches despite the complexity of the situation.

      Our analysis of the weekend's events must be detailed and thorough. We need to take both drivers' viewpoints into account, after which we will form a unified opinion. Based on that we will understand whether we can maintain our original interpretation of our internal rules, or whether there are some additional factors we need to consider."

      From the outside the incident in Turn 3 looked fairly obvious, and McLaren will probably not so much analyse its circumstances as seek to determine whether Norris breached the so‑called "Papaya rules," i.e. the intra‑team fighting rules that team management agreed with their drivers more than a year ago.

      Back then at the Italian Grand Prix Oscar Piastri overtook Lando Norris in a fairly aggressive way, and that incident was actively discussed both within McLaren and in the press. The basic principle underlying these rules is: no contact fighting on track.

      Yesterday Piastri was not convinced by the explanations that Norris had to take evasive action to avoid Max Verstappen's car in order to prevent more serious consequences, and on the radio during the race the Australian said the following: "If, to avoid another car, he needs to crash into his teammate, then that's a very poor way to avoid a car."

      The translation of Oscar's remark is not quite literal, since he used much more colourful language. But it is worth noting one more telling point: McLaren do not hide that they have to solve difficult problems inevitably associated with both drivers contending for the title.

      As Zak Brown, Chief Executive of McLaren Racing, put it figuratively, "when something starts to boil and we feel it, the pressure has to be let out of the bubble immediately."

      That is why Piastri and Norris are allowed to openly express their emotions over the radio, rather than restrain them for corporate reasons. That is why the drivers can openly voice their complaints to team management, but this takes place behind closed doors.

      Andrea Stella hopes that another such conversation will take place before the United States Grand Prix: "At the same time we must be cautious, because the stakes are very high. It's not only about the points in the drivers' championship, but also about our drivers' trust in the principles on which the team's work is built. And that is even more important than points as such. Therefore, in this case, in the process of the necessary analysis we will act with the utmost caution."