Will McLaren F1 yield to pressure?

Amid mounting criticism, McLaren faces a pivotal choice: back Lando Norris or bow to external pressures.

Criticism continues to mount against McLaren F1’s driver management policy.

As the team once again allowed its drivers to compete, nearly everyone is calling for Zak Brown and his team to rally behind Lando Norris to defeat Max Verstappen in the drivers’ championship.

Yet, at Monza yesterday, Piastri was permitted to challenge his teammate (successfully) at the start and finished just ahead of him, earning three more points than Norris, who might need them.

The Papaya Rules are set to be revised, according to Andrea Stella (read here). And today, Zak Brown admits that they must indeed yield to the unpopularity of team orders.

It was Nico Rosberg who asked the tough question: “Zak, at turn four. First, Lando almost spun out. It was very close, it couldn’t have been closer. Then, you let Leclerc pass. Maybe those 2.6 seconds cost you the victory. Isn’t it time to enforce some rules here?”

Brown remained composed: “That’s what we’ll discuss this week. We’ll review that. Without having our cars in the middle, could we have pulled away? It’s a legitimate question.”

“It was an aggressive overtake, so that’s a discussion we’ll have. It was a bit stressful on the pit wall. Lando had a poor exit from that turn which opened the door slightly. It would have been nice to see them lead a bit longer in tandem.”

“The start was great and what we discussed was respected—no touching—but I think Lando was probably taken by surprise with that overtake, so that’s something we’ll discuss.”

“It’s about respecting your teammate. They didn’t touch, it was an aggressive but clean overtake.”

Rules to avoid interference at the start, okay. But rules to put Lando ahead of Oscar?

“Priority number one is to win both championships. These are two young drivers who want to win and we’ve always believed in having two No. 1s. That has always been McLaren’s approach and it can be challenging to manage. They get along very well and race cleanly.”

“The simplest thing would have been for Lando to get ahead at the start, stay in front of Oscar, win, and not make tough calls from the pit wall, but Andrea (Stella) and I take it one race at a time.”

“Years ago, everyone criticized team orders. Now, everyone wants us to impose them. We also need to consider the context in which they are requested. Is it logical? Do people just want the tightest possible battle for the drivers’ title? Should we sacrifice the results of the other driver for that?”

“These are tough questions; you cannot take them lightly.”