McLaren is made clear because Oscar Piastri never intended to offer a towing to Rand Norris during the Spanish Grand Prix qualifying.
Norris kicked Formula 1 teammate Piastri out of the pit and stayed behind him on his first warm-up lap in the final segment of qualifying.
Piastri’s execution plan was slightly different, and after completing the flying lap he almost stopped suddenly, but Norris still had a short slipstream straight for a long start/finish as he left the final corner and began his own timing lap.
Piastri recognizes Norris is right behind him via team radio, explaining the “sakky” moments of lighthearted interactions with the engineer.
Norris posted a lap that was just 0.017S faster than the championship leader in the first run, prompting speculation that the tow explained the thin margin between them.
In the end, both drivers found more time after bolting a set of fresh tires.
Piastry then revealed that there were no advance arrangements to assist Norris. This said it was just a “coincident” that the two McLaren drivers were approaching each other in the third quarter.
“I went out very early for my first run in the third quarter, but it was a coincidence that Rand opened his knee and ended up behind me,” he said.
“Of course, when you start laps across the line, that’s probably not the best feeling, but we’ll argue about it. Nothing troublesome happened.
Norris said, “No, I didn’t know that Oscar would be out first.
“I tried to get a slipstream from someone. I think it was unlucky that it was Oscar. It was just a coincidence. Was I in line?
If the towing was translated into the first lap with improved 3rd quarter, Norris replied:
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella also believes Norris didn’t get any real benefits from following the piastry at the start of his knee.
Asked to explain the meaning of Piastri’s “sakky” statement, Stella said, “We have to make it clear to Oscar that we haven’t reviewed this case specifically, but because of the timing of leaving the garage, Rand opened the rap behind Oscar, so that he could finish the rap and offer him an Oscar.
“But obviously Oscar left quickly as he competed in the third quarter due to his position on the grid. In fact, he didn’t have much advantage from a performance standpoint.”