How McLaren boss Andrea Stella’s reacted to Lando Norris ignoring team radio in Hungary

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McLaren achieved a crucial one-two finish at the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix, capping off what should have been a perfect weekend for the team in papaya.

However, it was as easy as McLaren would have liked despite Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris having a distinct advantage over the rest of the field.

Norris once again couldn’t capitalise on a pole position start and was overtaken by his teammate and Max Verstappen going into the first corner.

Verstappen had to give the place back after getting past the Brit off the track and his race only deteriorated from there.

Piastri did a good job controlling the pace of the Grand Prix, but the final round of pit stops created a level of tension that many at McLaren wouldn’t have expected.

Speaking on Sky Sports F1 (21/7, Lap 60), pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz was watching the McLaren pit wall very closely.

Norris had undercut Piastri after pitting several laps earlier and wasn’t rushing to give the place back.

It created tension between Norris and his race engineer before they finally resolved the situation.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from height and parents to celebration

How the McLaren pit wall reacted to Lando Norris ignoring team radio messages

Reporting towards the end of the race, Kravitz said: “I’m just so keenly watching the McLaren pit wall. Andrea Stella’s pressing lots of the talk buttons on his panel.

“He actually shared a joke with one of his fellow engineers a second ago but I would not want to be on the wrong side of Andrea Stella.

“He’s a lovely chap, very mild-mannered but I give he could give you an absolute pasting if he wanted to.

“Lots of discussions going on on the McLaren pit wall, I’m sure Andrea Stella if he has to intervene personally, he will but well it’s up to Lando in the end.”

Croft added: “Knowing Andrea Stella as I do, he sees his role as team principal, he tends to observe and to monitor, rather than to tell people how to do their jobs.

“But, as I’m sure Christian Horner has done in the past, there comes a time when as a team principal, you do have to step in.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Oscar Piastri wins the Hungarian Grand Prix after Lando Norris gives in to team orders

Norris will be frustrated that he once again got caught out at the start of a race and lost out on another potential victory.

However, with Lewis Hamilton pitting earlier to go onto his final set of tyres for the race, McLaren had to act.

It meant Norris came in first and while Piastri could have immediately followed him in, instead he was left out for several more laps.

That allowed Norris to execute the undercut that had been evident throughout the race and Piastri simply couldn’t close the gap as they closed in on the chequered flag.

With three laps to go, Norris eventually allowed Piastri through, giving up a five-second lead to allow the Australian through to take his maiden victory.

It was potentially another strategy error from McLaren who could have avoided this awkward exchange by pitting both cars much more closely.

If Norris had given up the place immediately, he could have potentially raced Piastri properly and earned victory on merit, rather than using the powerful undercut.