McLaren team principal Andrea Stella and chief executive Zak Brown have declined to do interviews after a crash between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the final lap of the Singapore Grand Prix sprint race. On one of the last turns, Norris went for the overtake on his team-mate but clipped the front of his car, which forced Piastri to retire. Norris managed to complete the race, but those in the McLaren garage were fuming.
Team officials refuse to comment
Sky Sports' Ted Kravitz revealed that both Stella and Brown have opted against speaking on the incident. He said: "Both Zak Brown and Andrea Stella, let's put is delicately, declined to do any interviews at the moment. They are both clearly furious."
Kravitz added: "The team are saying 'it's completely unacceptable'. Of course they have broken the number one rule which is 'don't run into each other'. Yes, it's a mistake from Lando Norris. They're going to sort it out between them. They've gone to see the stewards."
Qualifying concerns
Kravitz also noted the practical impact of the incident: "I think the bigger issue from McLaren is that they have a couple of broken cars that they need to get ready for qualifying with a condensed schedule. There are many reasons that we are not hearing from Andreas, who you would have just seen storm in."
He described Stella's demeanour: "Andrea is very calm guy but I have not seen him this angry in a while. And Zak Brown is not saying anything ahead of qualifying later on."
The crash leaves McLaren with work to do to prepare both cars for qualifying, with the team's senior figures remaining tight-lipped as they address the incident behind closed doors.
