Lando Norris has become unhappy with his McLaren team since the second Formula One race before the summer break in Hungary. With Oscar Piastri having little chance of winning the title race and Norris cranking up the heat on Red Bull, the team decided to insist the British driver move over and return the lead of the ice to his team mate.

For nigh on ten laps after the team order was issued, Norris attempted to persuade the team that he was their best chance of claiming their first drivers’ title since Lewis Hamilton won his maiden F1 championship back in 2008.

With minutes of the Grand Prix in Budapest remaining, Norris finally relented to hand Piastri his first Formula One win. Yet the ramifications which have followed were on few F1 observers radar.

 

 

 

Norris unhappy with team call

“Could it have been handled slightly differently from a team side and from a personal side? Yeah, absolutely,” he said. “I think we would not be having this conversation now in some ways.”

Lando went on to observe the result of the team order meant that the paddock talk after the race was not about McLaren’s first 1-2 since 2021 – when he played second fiddle in Monza to his then team mate Daniel Ricciardo – but about whether the team order should’ve been issued and that Norris was best placed to challenge Max Verstappen this season.

The McLaren driver now 62 points behind the world champion but that decision followed by another last time out deprived him of ten points in his title challenge. From Hungary to Monza., Max has earned just 48 points a far cry from in 2023 when his score over the same races scored him 101 points.

Meanwhile Norris claimed pole position in Hungary and again in the Netherlands and Monza, yet his and the team’s starts have left a lot to be desire with the result Lando won just the race in Zandvoort during that time.

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McLaren team mates at logger heads?

And worse was to come, at the Italian Grand Prix Piastri made what Norris described as a “too aggressive” move on his team mate and despite taking the lead this comprised the Brit who as a result lost second place to eventual race winner Charles Leclerc.

With little hope of catching and passing the Ferrari, Norris was asked whether the team should have switched the pair around for the second and third places on the podium. Again this would have given the British driver another three points in his pursuit of Verstappen who is out of sorts with his RB20.

“I would love it, but it’s not up to me. It’s tough. As any driver, you don’t want it. You don’t want it to be played that way. It’s a tough one,” said a visibly frustrated Norris and he had a warning for his team.

“I wouldn’t say we’re running out of time, but time is going away slowly.” He concluded. This season McLaren’s newest driver has struggled to be consistent and at times appears baffled by how to manage the times in critical moments.

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Piastri still too inconsistent

The Aussie was offered the opportunity to one stop like Leclerc but said his tyres wouldn’t last. He later admitted the graining he was suffering may have gone away as it did for the Ferrari driver. 

Lando Norris has been faithful to his McLaren team since enjoining in 2019 and despite efforts by Red Bull Racing to recruit him he resigned twice for the British racing marque missing out on an opportunity to join the current world champions. Add to this that Piastri has been inconsistent finishing 27 seconds behind his team mate in Zandvoort.

But McLaren haven’t been at the sharp end of a title since 2010 and its showing. F1 is all about winning and for the public the marquee title is the drivers’ and not the constructors. The decisions by McLaren to treat both drivers equally have cost the team nothing given their when the tough calls have been made their drivers have finished one behind the other. Lando however has been comprised by ten points

But with just eight race weekends remaining this year, for Norris its a big ask to catch Max, given Red Bull will not struggle at each of the circuits to come.

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Red Bull ready to pounce

Dr. Helmut Marko now reveals that Red Bull had a “contract ready” to sign Norris to Milton Keynes, but McLaren “found out” and put a stop to the deal.

The question for the team, who have been soul searching since the Italian Grand Prix, is whether unless they rectify the situation, could Norris decide to up and leave should the call come again from Red Bull – this time to replace Sergio Perez.

Zak Brown is believed to behind the principle now called “papaya rules” which have seen Lando’s hopes of the F1 drivers’ title this year diminish with each passing race weekend.

Andreas Stella has previously defended the principal but something has changed and the rhetoric is now different coming from the Italian.

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Piastri ‘leant’ on by McLaren boss

“I think if the things we say [to Oscar] are sensible and according to the principles like fairness, because if you support your team-mate in winning the championship, it is a big boost [then he will react well],” the McLaren boss replied when asked how Piastri would take team orders.

“It is a benefit, a big boost for the whole team [If Lando beats Verstappen to the title], even if he is the other driver because we can’t forget that Oscar is in the middle of his second season in Formula 1.

“The future is Oscar, and he needs to make sure that when it is the time to support, the support he will give to the team or to Lando is an investment [in himself].”

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McLaren soft underbelly still shows

As yet there are no visible signs of animosity between the McLaren team mates, but Stella’s new position makes it clear he will not demand Piastri help his Norris to his own detriment, but expects the Australian to understand the position the team is in.

Should McLaren order the Aussie to play second fiddle, a whole host of questions will arise in the media, but should he play the team game and behind the scenes make sure this happens – his future with the team is bright.

Even if this ploy by McLaren’s management works, it pleading with your junior driver to play ball shows they are not the lean mean wining machine they need to become if they are to play at the big boys F1 table.

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Marko admits attempt to “steal” Lando Norris

McLaren made a clause that scuppered Red Bull’s plans for Lando Norris. Lando Norris has become a Formula One star, but his career could have taken a very different path had Red Bull’s plans to sign him been successful. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko reveals details of the near-transfer that was thwarted by a contract clause.

A name synonymous with future Formula One greatness, Lando Norris has been one of the sport’s most promising talents for years. A key figure for McLaren, the 24-year-old Briton is one of the few drivers often mentioned in the same breath as two-time world champion Max Verstappen.  READ MORE