‘Number one and two driver days gone’ with McLaren deemed in ‘marvellous’ position

Nigel Mansell believes the days of number one and number two drivers are over in Formula 1, McLaren showing this season that two strong drivers are a “problem” worth having.

McLaren have somewhat unexpectedly found themselves in the midst of a Drivers’ Championship battle, Lando Norris chasing down Max Verstappen in the standings.

Nigel Mansell: I think McLaren have two fabulous drivers

McLaren’s MCL38 has emerged as the quickest car on the grid today, overhauling Red Bull’s RB20, thanks to McLaren’s faultless track record with upgrades.

While rival teams, Red Bull included, have made missteps with correlation issues as they’ve bolted on new floors, McLaren have avoided that by sticking with their Miami Grand Prix floor and instead updating other parts of the car.

It’s a formula that’s worked for the Woking team as not only have they seized control of the Constructors’ Championship, where they are 41 points to the good over Red Bull, but Norris has also nibbled away at Verstappen’s lead in the Drivers’ standings.

52 points behind the Dutchman with a maximum of 180 in play, McLaren have made the call to be “biased” towards Norris with Piastri playing a support role, but one he says is not a “blank cheque” for his team-mate .

However, it has been said McLaren missed a trick there when they used team orders on Norris that handed the win to Piastri to Hungary and again in Monza when he was allowed to attack the Briton for the lead.

In sharp contrast Red Bull have always been 100 per cent behind Verstappen, however, in his case, he doesn’t have a team-mate who can support him as Sergio Perez has been off the pace, and the podium, for most of the season.

F1 2024: Team-mate head-to-head stats

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

1992 World Champion Mansell was asked if Piastri, who can also be considered a number one driver, could be a problem for Norris in the years to come.

“Well no, I don’t think in the coming years, I think it’s a problem now!” the Briton told Top Offshore Sportsbook citing Piastri’s Baku win as an example of the Australian’s talent.

“I mean, let’s qualify that. I don’t think it’s a problem at all. I think the young man [Piastri] demonstrated such maturity to be under that pressure from Ferrari for so many laps and to win the race in the way he did, all credit to him.

“I think it was marvellous, but also I think people must understand it’s an incredible achievement for the McLaren team to give both drivers cars capable of winning.

“You know, the days have gone when you’re number one or number two driver, because the capability of supplying two cars as competitive as one another is absolutely brilliant.

“So he did a great job. And I think going forward, I think it’s marvellous for the team. I don’t think it’s a problem for either one of them because they’ll keep one another honest.

“If you have two quick drivers in the team, it pushes the team forward. If you got a real dominant number one, and not a very good number two, it doesn’t push the team because then you rely on the number one driver all the time. So I think McLaren have two fabulous drivers.”

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