Oscar Piastri dismisses the theory of Lando Norris sabotage.

In the tense closing moments of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix last weekend, McLaren's strategy was for Oscar Piastri to lead his teammate Lando Norris on the track, allowing him to gain the advantage of a 'tow' down the straight. However, Piastri locked up into the first corner, veered off onto the asphalt run-off at the chicane, and had to abort his lap.

Unsurprisingly, some speculated that this was a calculated move to hinder his teammate's performance, given that Piastri—having received a tow from Norris on his initial run—had clocked a time that would secure him provisional third on the grid after the chequered flag. Norris believed that being in clean air at the front cost him three-tenths of a second on a circuit where slipstreaming is crucial.

This relegated Norris to eighth on the grid, while Piastri started sixth after incurring a penalty for obstructing Liam Lawson's Red Bull earlier during the session.

Proponents of the 'deliberate mistake' theory noted that Piastri slowed down immediately after going off-track, even though there might have still been a chance to assist Norris elsewhere on the lap.

"Yes, there probably was," Piastri told media outlets, including Motorsport.com, ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.

"But when you lock up and miss the corner, your first thought is to get out of the way, not to do anything else. Sure, in hindsight, I might have handled it differently, but in that moment, expecting anything else was likely a tall order, in my opinion.

"Could we improve next time? Absolutely. The main thing is to ensure we're not... It's always challenging from our position in the pitlane, but being the first two cars out at Monza meant we were unlikely to improve. We were a bit doomed before we even began our laps, but yes, we could have performed better."

McLaren permitted its drivers to compete against each other openly at Monza

In that final Q3 run, the McLarens found themselves in the unfavorable position of leading the track in first and second, a result of being stationed in a garage at the far end of the pitlane from the exit. This made timing their departure from the garage quite difficult, as team principal Andrea Stella explained at the time.

"At no point should this be an excuse," he stated, "when you are in the first garage, you need to be cautious about leaving too late, because if you’re the last one, you risk missing the opportunity to start your lap.

"That's also why we ended up being first, but we need to reassess the margins we adopted, because being first with the slipstream effect this year is definitely not an ideal position."

During the latter part of the race, while the McLarens trailed third-placed Max Verstappen, Norris caught up to Piastri and attempted to overtake on the outside line heading towards the second chicane, but ended up with two wheels on the grass. At that moment, he expressed his frustration over the radio, claiming that Piastri had pushed him off the track, though he later softened his stance.

"Things could have turned out much worse than they did last year if we had chosen to manage things differently," Oscar Piastri

McLaren's stance is that its drivers are free to race against each other as long as they do not take each other out—a stark contrast to Ferrari, where confusion appears to dominate racing etiquette. However, McLaren faced substantial criticism last year over perceived favoritism towards Norris in the championship battle.

"The moment Lando went onto the grass, he came on the radio, making a remark like 'he pushed me off' or something akin to that," Stella noted, "but upon reviewing, we found that the incident was much less severe than it might have seemed in the heat of the moment.

"So this is certainly something we will analyze in the context of this style of racing. When you battle with each other, you risk losing time.

"Was there a better approach for McLaren to challenge Verstappen? We will evaluate that. It wasn't clear to us on the pitwall, and we believed it was more important to allow them to race in line with our racing philosophy."

The on-track occurrences from last weekend highlight the challenges of managing the relationship between fiercely competitive teammates. Ferrari's race ended in discord, with Lewis Hamilton accusing Charles Leclerc of pushing him off at the first corner, emphasizing that the team lacked proper "rules of engagement."

Clash between Ferrari's drivers at Monza prompted Hamilton to voice concerns about rules of engagement – or lack thereof

Meanwhile, Mercedes had to intervene mid-race to remind its drivers that their disagreement was hindering their ability to distance themselves from Max Verstappen.

"I think the key is to ensure clarity and avoid surprises," Piastri remarked about McLaren's method of managing its drivers.

"It's quite challenging to completely avoid surprises, and they will occur at times. However, the more you can reduce them, the smoother things will be, and the stronger the relationships will become.

"Of course, every team has its own unique way of racing. But for me, that has been a significant factor in our success over the years.

"Last year served as a prime example. Things could have escalated much more negatively than they did if we had chosen to handle matters differently, both as drivers and as a team.

"So, yes, for us, being open has always been paramount. Also, if something frustrates you, make sure to communicate that to others."