Andrea Stella admits McLaren created the “difficult
situation” of team orders, but it means they have two drivers capable of
winning races in a race-winning car.
McLaren’s team orders, filed under ‘papaya rules’, have
been one of the big topics of this season as the team first emerged as race
winners and then championship contenders.
McLaren ‘worked hard’ to create team order situation
Lando
Norris sits second to Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship and
while it is a long shot given his 62-point deficit, it is still a shot. And
that’s something McLaren haven’t had since Lewis Hamilton went into the 2010
title decider still in with a shout.
McLaren though, came in for some criticism when Norris
was ordered to move over for Oscar Piastri at the Hungarian Grand Prix, that
costing him seven points, while in Monza the Australian passed the Briton for
the lead on the opening lap. They finished second and third with Piastri ahead,
Norris missing out on another three points.
But he got one of those back in Saturday’s Sprint at the
Brazilian Grand Prix as Piastri, who led from pole to lap 22 of 24, moved over
to give his team-mate the victory.
With Verstappen only P4 after a post-race penalty for a
VSC infringement, Norris reduced his deficit in the Drivers’ standings to 44
points, before the Red Bull driver opened up his gap once again with an
excellent drive in the race in wet conditions.
Norris said after the Sprint that he
was “not proud” of how he won the shortened race with his team boss
calling the use of team orders a “difficult situation”, but it’s one he doesn’t
mind dealing with.
“Making life difficult for ourselves is natural, because
when you have two drivers that can win races and a car that can win races, this
first thing you have to accept is there’s not an easy solution,” he told Motorsport.com.
“That already sets you in a good mindset to deal with the
potential difficulties.
“But, like I have said already in the past, we have worked
very hard to put ourselves in this difficult situation – and we are all on the
same page: team and drivers.
“I always discuss with the drivers, and say that this is the
most difficult thing we are going to face in our career, because this is the
only thing that we cannot face by having our interests exactly matching.”
Oscar Piastri was ‘fine’ with handing Lando Norris the
win
As for Piastri, he took the chequered flag in second place
having held off Verstappen on the final lap after the VSC for Nico Hulkenberg’s
stranded Haas was lifted.
“It’s not as fun as winning. But I know the position that
we’re in. You know, we’ve been talking about this for months now. And this is
really the first time that we’ve had to enforce it,” he said.
“So, yes, I would have preferred to have won. But, again, it’s a Sprint. It’s the same points for the team. And, you know, being realistic, I don’t have much to fight for in the Driver’s standing. So we knew this is something that could and probably would happen at some point. But yeah, I was fine with it.”
.webp)
