At the recent 2026 Singapore Grand Prix, the McLaren F1 team hit one of their biggest lows of the season. During the final lap of the Sprint, Lando Norris made a move on his teammate into turn 5, which resulted in both cars coming together. Piastri was into the wall and out, while Norris recovered to finish a distant eighth place.
There were words exchanged between the drivers and the team’s management in the garage, although Norris in his interviews was defiant, stating there was a gap and as a racer he was wired to exploit it. The stewards appeared to agree with the current world champion as they decided Norris had positioned the front axle of his car ahead of Piastri’s mirror on approach to the corner.
And as such, he was right to expect to be left enough room on the inside. However, Piastri declared he hadn’t seen Norris,which resulted in the space to the apex of the corner rapidly closing, Norris hitting the kerb, and clipping the rear of the sister McLaren.
The Underlying Frustration
However, the incident was not a single moment in isolation from the bigger picture. Norris had made a mistake in Sprint qualifying and started the shortened-form race behind teammate Oscar Piastri, who was fourth on the grid. From early in the 20-lap dash, Norris was all over the back of his teammate and clearly the quicker of the two McLaren cars.
He made the point over team radio, but no order came for Piastri to allow Norris through. Clearly, Lando was frustrated by this for most of the race, and when an opportunity arose to resolve the matter himself, he took it.
Zak Brown was asked by Martin Brundle the following day how the team meeting to discuss the matter had gone. “Oh yeah. That was a ‘don’t do that again.’ And we didn’t say please. That’s an order,” said the American. Yet it appears some reflection was given to how the team had handled their drivers racing on track during the race.
“We learn from it. I think there’s some things they definitely could have done differently. Maybe a few things we could have done a little bit differently. So you learn,” Brown concluded. This clearly isn’t the royal “we”, in other words meaning Lando alone was not at fault. McLaren pride themselves in letting their drivers race, but claim the interests of the team always come first.
By dithering in the Singapore Sprint between standing by their ‘let them race’ principles and what was best for the team—to let Lando by and see if he could attack Charles Leclerc up ahead—McLaren inevitably created the moment when frustration from Norris would see him take matters into his own hands.
A Swift Policy Shift at the US Grand Prix
Two weeks later, it became apparent that there has been a shift in McLaren’s management of their drivers. Again, poor qualifying from Lando meant he would start P8, directly behind his teammate. As the lights went out at the 2026 US GP,the Australian driver held his ground, keeping his teammate behind.
As the race settled down on lap eight, Norris radioed to the team that he believed he was quicker than Piastri. Given their cars were similarly set up, Lando was unable to complete a move on his teammate in identical technology. Unlike in Singapore, the call came over team radio for Piastri to move aside, something he didn’t fight particularly hard.
Within a lap, Norris was more than a second down the road, justifying the decision made by the team—one which in the past they appear to have dithered over. When asked about the swift deployment of team orders, team principal Andrea Stella revealed they had discussed the possibility of team orders prior to the race.
“We had seen during the weekend that Lando was a little bit faster than Oscar,” Stella explained. “This is a track in which Lando excels and is one of the tracks in which Oscar instead struggles a little bit more.
“This year, in particular for Oscar, is tricky because Oscar’s superpower is to build; once he creates references, he can really effectively build lap after lap. But here every lap is different, so these are the conditions that challenge Oscar and actually are the conditions where Lando uses his own superpower, which is being very adaptive to the conditions,especially as the car slides.
“So, given this context, we discussed before the race that if Lando was behind Oscar, and Oscar could not keep up with the cars ahead, then we could have given Lando a chance or an opportunity to see if we could attack the cars ahead – and that’s what we did.”
Prioritising the Team Above All Else
There has been a definite shift in McLaren’s balancing act of “let them race” and “the team comes first”, which was often expressed in the fashion of ‘we don’t care what order you come home in – if you’re one behind the other – that’s the best result for the team.’ In a way, this old methodology avoids potential conflict and a disgruntled driver who has been told to move aside.
Yet it does not necessarily prioritise the interests of the team. Whilst Oscar Piastri came home in seventh where he started,by issuing team orders McLaren saw Norris climb through the ranks to finish in fifth.
Andrea Stella appeared to admit this as he concluded: “It’s a way of demonstrating that as a team and together with the drivers, we care about the interests of the team, which was always the conversation that we have had,” Stella added.
“And especially after Singapore, we reinforced how much it’s important that we all together help McLaren go back to the position that we want to have, which is Oscar and Lando, first row in qualifying, fighting for the win, and then we manage the internal competition. But up to then, all together, we need to sustain the trajectory of McLaren back to the front.”
McLaren has faded during the course of this season and is currently on a four-round streak with no podium finishes. This is its worst period of form since the final two rounds of 2024 and the first two rounds of their constructors’ championship-winning season the following year.
Would you like to see more TJ13 Formula 1 coverage? Add us to your favourites list on Google to receive trusted F1 news.
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
