McLaren Chief Will Give Support To One Driver As Lando Norris Fights Max Verstappen For Title

Saajan Jogia | Sep 6, 2024

Nov 17, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; McLaren F1 drivers Lando Norris (4) of Great Britain and Oscar Piastri (81) of Australia drive during practice 3 at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images / Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has stated that the team will be backing Lando Norris in the upcoming races to maximize his chances of gaining points in the Drivers' Championship fight. However, he stressed that both drivers, Norris, and Oscar Piastri, are within mathematical reach of a title win, and McLaren will evaluate each situation carefully before issuing team orders to either driver.

The Papaya team has launched an impressive challenge against Red Bull following mid-season upgrades to the MCL38 F1 car, which have resulted in front-row lockouts in qualifying and three race victories so far—nearly half of Red Bull's seven wins from the first ten races of the season.

Red Bull's problems were compounded when its mid-season upgrade backfired, upsetting the balance of the RB20 and diminishing its performance as the races unfolded. As a result, Red Bull's lead over McLaren in the Constructors' Championship narrowed to just 8 points, while Max Verstappen's advantage in the Drivers' Standings also dropped to 62 points over Norris following the Italian Grand Prix.

With Norris and Piastri being within "mathematical reach" to win the title over the remaining eight races, Stella revealed McLaren would support the British driver in his championship title pursuit, but that rule may not apply in all scenarios. He told Formula1.com:

“Both drivers are mathematically in position, but Lando is obviously in the best position from a numbers point of view, and we are fighting Max Verstappen, so if we have to give support to one driver, we have to pick the driver that is in the best position.

“Already in our conversation even before the race here [at Monza], we acknowledged that Lando is in the best position in the drivers’ championship point of view.

“We have conversations with Oscar, with Lando, and together, and that defines our rules of engagement. We need to take a look at the first lap, but it has to be done in a way that is competent, is detailed, is specific, takes into account the videos, the drivers’ expectation...

“Then [we will] see what we can learn from this situation to adjust future situations, save the fact we do want to give it a go with the championship with Lando right now.”

Considering Piastri's first-lap move in Monza, where he took the lead from Norris in a bold moment, potentially depriving him of a race win, Stella was asked if McLaren had ranked a number one driver among the two. He explained:

“Well, number one works well as a headline, I’m not sure it works in the real world in terms of, ‘What does it mean?’

“For instance, let’s say hypothetically, we can prove that in corner four Lando braked too early, and Oscar kind of naturally had the possibility to take the lead, what do you do if you are number one? Swap the lap after? It’s very difficult to implement conditionally in the real world.

“I think it’s better to keep working as a team, get the opinion of both drivers and then work together to, like I say, try and pursue this objective in both championships, as it now looks like both championships are a possibility.

“We were a little bit cautious before Monza but now, we see that McLaren can compete at circuits where last year we were not competitive. So, we have a very competitive package overall, and this could be very important for Lando in particular in the quest for the championship.”