As Mud Slinging Rages On, McLaren TP Lashes Out at Carlos Sainz for Ruining Oscar Piastri’s Perfect Weekend

In the fiercely competitive Formula 1 environment, neither the drivers nor the team as a whole are willing to cede even an inch to the competition, whether it be on the track or off it. While we have known Christian Horner and Toto Wolff to engage in mudslinging, it appears that now we have an additional pair to make headlines. Although the Belgian Grand Prix weekend had a display of some incredible competition and skills, it will also be remembered for the season’s DNFs. As a verbal battle started at the Spa Francorchamps track gets a final blow as Andrea Stella hits Carlos Sainz for ruining his driver Oscar Piastri’s ideal weekend.

Both Ferrari and McLaren entered the main race on the Belgian Track to put up a spectacle. However, Oscar Piastri was pushed into the wall while trying to overtake Carlos Sainz, who was engaged in his own duel with Lewis Hamilton for third place. Carlos Sainz and Piastri eventually made contact at the LA source in their efforts to get ahead. Though Hamilton was able to complete the race, the other two drivers had DNF. Due to the hole in his right side pod, Ferrari brought the Spanish driver back on lap 23, whereas the 22-year-old had to retire just after completing a few more laps.

After the race, the Spaniard issued a harsh criticism of Piastri, subtly criticizing the Australian for his rookie driver’s error. According to Sainz, “I went to pass Lewis into turn one and I think I had the move pretty much done. So if you look back at the past starts here, that’s normally the case. Maybe a bit of an experience mistake, but that’s how it goes. I didn’t expect him there.” Though Piastri also hit back at Sainz, it was a mild one. However, now, it doesn’t appear to sit well with McLaren TP Andrea Stella, who has maintained a protective stance toward his drivers throughout the season.

As per a tweet by @The McLarenZone, Stella hit out at Sainz saying, “Carlos kind of either he didn’t know that Oscar was there, or because he needed to avoid the car ahead just drove onto Oscar and there was a wall delimiting the space available, so a big shame.”

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Noting that the FIA had overlooked the incident without penalizing him when Stella was asked about the same notion, he responded modestly,

What did Andrea Stella think of the FIA’s judgment on Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri?

Piastri might have considered fully utilizing the services of MCL60 at the Belgian Track after having established leading in the first few lap records in his rookie season. However, things at the gate didn’t go as expected.

After the incident, Oscar Piastri himself criticized the FIA for classifying the occurrence as a” lap 1 turn 1 incident” and failing to investigate the contact and now when the same question was asked by Andrea Stella the Mclaren TP has responded in a modest way.

As per Planetf1, he said, “Let me just say that we trust the stewards in this respect. They look at things in this situation with a lot of care, so I think there is no point in arguing one millimetre more or less. We trust their operations, we trust their judgement. It doesn’t change the outcome.”

Later, while trying to make a way forward, Stella added, “Carlos got his damage as well, he needed to retire. So it’s a bit of learning for everyone and we move on.”

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Do you believe the event was what the FIA claimed it to be, or did both drivers simply get lucky?