McLaren is shifting its racing philosophy as Lando Norris tries to chase down Max Verstappen for the Formula 1 title.
McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella told the BBC that the team will start making Norris’ success the priority for the rest of the season. McLaren has let both Norris and Oscar Piastri race for the majority of the season so far, though it has provided the biggest team orders example of the season.
Verstappen leads the driver’s standings with 303 points. Norris is second with 241 points and has been faster than Verstappen since the summer began.
“Even when I said to Oscar: ‘Would you be available to give up a victory?’ He said, ‘It’s painful but if it’s the right thing to do now, I will do it.’”
“Every driver is hard-wired to go for a victory. So I am always very impressed by the level of team spirit and maturity and collaboration that we found in this period.”
McLaren locked out the front row at the most recent race in Monza as Norris started first ahead of Piastri. The two drivers raced each other at the start of the opening lap and Piastri snuck by into first. Piastri then finished second to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on a one-stop strategy and Norris was third.
Earlier this season, Piastri scored his first career victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix when McLaren asked Norris to move over for Piastri. The Australian had led for much of the race, but Norris’ late pit strategy saw him inherit the lead over the final round of pit stops. McLaren demanded that Norris pull over for Piastri, and he did so in the waning laps.
If McLaren had left Norris in front in Hungary, he’d have 248 points and be 55 points back of Verstappen. The total would be 52 if they asked Piastri to let Norris by at Monza as well.
Team orders are a hard fact of life at times in Formula 1 even though they aren’t fun to watch unless you’re a fan of the driver who is benefitting from them. But this move is the right strategic option for McLaren at the moment.
Norris is catching Verstappen in the standings and needs all the help he can get. Verstappen hasn’t won since June 23 in Spain and is in the midst of a six-race winless drought. Norris hasn’t finished any lower than fifth in the last five races and has four podiums in that span.
Since finishing last in Austria on June 30, Norris has cut 19 points off Verstappen’s points lead. That’s a rate that will make the title race far from a formality, but also one that doesn’t give Norris much of a shot at the title.
Conversely, McLaren is the prohibitive favorite to win the constructors title. With Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez struggling for most of the season and Piastri keeping pace with Norris, McLaren is just eight points back of Red Bull for the constructor’s title. It’s very possible — and even likely — that McLaren will leave Sunday’s race in Baku with the lead in the constructors standings.