Does McLaren really favour Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri? Is Norris always going to have his way?
Well, the Australian insisted the F1 team has“clarified a lot of things” regarding team orders after the controversy at Monza, where he was asked to surrender second place to team-mate and championship rival Norris.
The 24-year-old Australian, who leads the drivers’ standings and is aiming to become his country’s first Formula One world champion since Alan Jones in 1980, admitted he had challenged the team’s decision during the race but said discussions since then had brought unity.
“Obviously, it’s a highly talked-about moment, but we’ve had a lot of discussions and clarified a lot of things,” Piastri told reporters on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s
Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“We know how we’re going to go racing going forwards, which is the most important thing.”
Team Talks Stay Private
Piastri refused to reveal the details of the conversations, stressing that McLaren needed to keep strategy in-house.
“A lot of that is to stay for us because, ultimately, if we give out that information, then we become very easy targets to pick off because everyone knows what we’re going to do,” he explained.
“That’s all very aligned with all of us, but it stays in-house.”
Title Within Reach
Piastri holds a 31-point lead over Norris with eight races to go, while McLaren sits on 617 points, a massive 337 points clear of Ferrari. A strong result in Baku could seal the team’s second consecutive constructors’ championship, and in record time.
If McLaren outscore Ferrari by at least nine points — while avoiding a heavy points loss to Red Bull or Mercedes — they will wrap up the title with seven rounds to spare, the earliest in F1 history.
“The priority is to keep scoring big points and avoid any scrapes,” Piastri said, as McLaren balances the fight between their two drivers with the prospect of sealing both championships.
(with agency inputs)
