F1 News: McLaren Faces Team Order Challenges in Lando Norris’s Title Pursuit

McLaren is gearing up to implement team orders in the upcoming races to support Lando Norris in his championship bid.

This decision follows a series of strong performances that have allowed Norris to close the gap on Max Verstappen in the Drivers' Standings.

During the recent Italian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri overtook Norris, who had started in pole position.

This maneuver allowed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to slip between them, pushing Norris down to third place.

Ultimately, Leclerc won the race, with Piastri and Norris finishing second and third, respectively. This result has significantly boosted McLaren's chances in the championship, especially as Red Bull has struggled with its car's balance.

Currently, Norris trails Verstappen by 62 points, and McLaren recognizes the need to provide him with the necessary support to compete for the title.

The team has acknowledged that they could have managed the situation better during the Italian GP, particularly in the first lap, and are focused on optimizing their strategy moving forward.

While McLaren is committed to supporting the driver in the best position, team principal Andrea Stella emphasized that the "number one" status is not fixed and can change based on the race dynamics. Stella told the media :

“Max is good, even with his tongue. He’s not only good on track.

“Obviously he knows that the car he is driving at the moment seems to provide him with some challenges.

“But we need to be better at capitalizing the opportunities that Red Bull at the moment seem to offer by not being in the usual possibility of competing for podiums.”

He also emphasized helping the driver in the best position to challenge Verstappen, which is Norris at the moment. He said:

“We are fighting Max Verstappen, so I think if we want to give support to one driver, we definitely have to pick the one that is in the best position.

“And also Lando, he's been doing very well, like pole position in Zandvoort, pole position here [in Monza].

“If anything with Lando, we need to adjust some little racing things which may help him, and may help us capitalize on a pole position like we had here in Monza. I think if you look at his first lap, while we review it together, we might see that there were a couple of things that we could have done slightly better.”

The team aims to work collaboratively with both drivers to maximize their chances in the championship.

In the Monza race, McLaren opted against having Piastri and Norris swap positions late in the race, as they wanted to maintain pressure on Leclerc.

The team is confident that their competitive package can help Norris in his pursuit of the championship, especially as they have shown improved performance on various circuits compared to last year.

Stella revealed that the number one status is situation-based and does not solely apply to Norris. He clarified:

“I think number one kind of works well as a headline, but I'm not sure it works very well in the real world in terms of what does it mean? What do you do?

“Let's say hypothetically that we conclude that in corner four [the second chicane], Lando just braked too early, and Oscar kind of naturally had the possibility to take the lead, then what does it mean if you are number one? You swap the lap after?

“It's just very difficult to implement this definition in the real world. It's better to keep working as a team, get the opinion of both drivers and then work together to pursue this objective in both championships, because it now looks like the drivers' championship is definitely a possibility.

“We were a little cautious even before Monza, but I now we see that McLaren can compete in circuits where last year we were not competitive.

“So I think it's a very competitive package overall, and this could be a very important weapon for Lando in particular in the quest for the championship.”

He added:

“We considered other ways during the race to make sure that Lando had his own opportunities.

“But we didn't consider the swap because we were still willing to put as much pressure as possible on Leclerc and eventually induce him to have a problem with the front left, like a lock-up, in one of the chicanes.”