McLaren boss hails rare collaboration in title fight

SAO PAULO :McLaren principal Andrea Stella hailed teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on Friday for working together in a way he said was unprecedented in Formula One history between title rivals.

Norris retook the championship lead from Piastri last month with a commanding win at the Mexican Grand Prix, but is only one point clear of the Australian with four rounds, and two sprint races, remaining.

Piastri can regain the lead in Saturday's sprint at Interlagos.

"I am personally very proud of our two drivers, our engineers. They collaborate in a way I think that we have not seen before in the history of Formula One," Stella told reporters ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

"We are not naive. We know that the pressure is high, we know that the stake is big. But we will continue leaning on our framework.

"So far what I've seen is that Lando and Oscar have always been very supportive," he added.

McLaren have already clinched the constructors' championship, but Red Bull's reigning world champion Max Verstappen remains a threat - 36 points behind Norris in third place in the drivers' standings.

Stella said the drivers had to make sure one of them secured the title, recalling 2007 when then McLaren favourites Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton lost the championship in the last round to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

"Potentially, that competition went a little too far," said Stella, who was working for Ferrari at the time.

"This is a conversation we are having internally right now. We are having conversations with Lando, with Oscar: 'let’s make sure that the winner drives a papaya car (McLaren), OK'.

"Let's make sure that we collaborate as much as is sensible to do so between two drivers to make sure that the title is a Papaya overall