McLaren's Strategy Shaken by Piastri's Success

Christian Horner highlights the unexpected challenges Oscar Piastri is bringing to McLaren F1’s strategic decisions.

McLaren F1 has won four races this season, with two for Lando Norris and two for Oscar Piastri. The latter benefited from a team order in his favor yesterday, even though the team had announced a preference for Norris in the championship; however, Norris qualified 17th at Baku.

For Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, it’s an entirely unexpected situation for the team, likely causing management difficulties for Andrea Stella and Zak Brown. The British manager recounted experiencing something similar when he promoted a young driver who outperformed an established world champion on the team.

“Generally, these issues are dealt with behind closed doors. I’m not really sure what the rules are. There is still some confusion. I think he’s causing them headaches because he’s winning races and doing a very good job,” Horner stated.

“It’s like when Daniel Ricciardo joined us; he was clearly meant to be Sebastian Vettel’s number two, yet he won three races that year, while Sebastian won none. Sometimes, that gives you headaches.”

“They certainly took on Oscar hoping, as Mercedes probably did with George [Russell], and Ferrari with Carlos [Sainz], to have strong support. But when the second driver starts outperforming the first, that’s when you tend to get headaches.”

Horner believes McLaren should have been clearer from the start about the hierarchy within its duo: “Not all teams operate the same way. When you have an asset like Max Verstappen, you don’t make him a number two driver.”

“Lando Norris is paid five times more than Oscar, so I assume he would be their number one driver, or their greatest asset. Confusion arises when you are not upfront from the beginning about what you plan. It becomes a very difficult problem to manage, as you split the team and the rules of engagement become very difficult.”

“Everyone probably knows who are the numbers one and two, but if you are not upfront with the drivers, confusion sets in. At the start of the season, everything is obviously open, but when you reach the midpoint of the season, you have to pick a horse, especially if you are in a battle for the championship.”