Andrea Stella, McLaren’s team boss, believes that Max Verstappen should have faced a much harsher penalty for his collision with Lando Norris. Verstappen was deemed the primary culprit for the incident, but according to Stella, he got off too lightly. Stella feels that the stewards have not been strict enough in the past for similar incidents. The Italian compares the clash in Austria with the times Verstappen and Hamilton encountered each other in 2021.
The Austrian Grand Prix was marked by a fierce battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris for the lead. Norris had made several attempts to overtake the Dutchman, but Verstappen consistently managed to keep the Brit at bay. However, things went awry in turn three of lap 64 when the two drivers collided. Norris eventually had to retire due to the damage sustained, while Verstappen managed to climb back to P5 after a pit stop.
The stewards pointed to Verstappen as the main culprit for the collision, handing him a ten-second time penalty. McLaren’s team boss, Andrea Stella, felt the punishment was not severe enough. “I see that the whole world knows who was responsible [for the collision], except for one group of people,” Stella told Sky Sports, seemingly referring to the stewards.
Controversy Over Verstappen’s Penalty
According to Stella, the reason for the lenient penalty was that in the past, drivers were not heavily penalized for similar incidents. “The problem is that if you don’t handle these things fairly, they come back,” explains the team boss. The Italian compares the incident between Verstappen and Norris to 2021, when Verstappen and Hamilton had several on-track encounters. “[The problems] have come back today because they were not properly addressed in the past when there were some disputes with Lewis Hamilton [in 2021]. That should have been punished more severely. Then you learn how to race in a certain way, which we can consider fair,” says Stella.
Less Respect for Red Bull
The McLaren team boss believes that Verstappen has even put Red Bull’s reputation at risk in Austria. “The fact is that we have so much respect for Red Bull, so much respect for Max. They don’t need to do this,” says the team boss. Stella emphasizes that, in his opinion, Verstappen’s time penalty does not correspond to Norris’s retirement. “So I think it’s clear that we need to enforce the way of racing because we want to have fun. We want to enjoy,” Stella concludes.
