McLaren boss Andrea Stella has warned Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri about their F1 futures at the team if they do not follow team orders. The final races of the Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix were dominated by a radio exchange between Norris and his engineer Will Joseph about allowing Piastri to take the lead on Lap 1 in the opening lap.
McLaren decided to pit second-placed driver Norris ahead of leading driver Piastri on the final round of pit-stops to support third-placed Lewis Hamilton, but in doing so, Norris passed Piastri and took the lead. race.
After several rounds of pleading with Norris to give way to the Australian, he finally gave way on lap 68 out of 70, allowing Piastri to win his first grand prix as the two led Hamilton to the finish line. the third position. Reflecting on the incident and dispute within the team’s command, Stella made a firm, non-negotiable statement to both Norris and Piastri. “We discuss with our drivers before each race and focus on our principles,” Stella shared with the media.
“It’s very difficult to manage Formula 1 races if you just talk about rules like: ‘the car in front has priority when stopping’. “Because then you risk getting yourself into trouble because every driver is trying their best to overtake the first corner because they want to have priority. “We talked about our principles when it comes to racing and one principle that I don’t want to reveal too much about is very simple, which is that the team’s interests must come first. “If you mess this up, you won’t be part of the McLaren Formula 1 team. That’s the principle. “We will reaffirm some of the ways we cooperate with messages, for example in case we need to deal with situations like this. That’s what we do before the race.”
Stella trusts Norris
Norris’ situation worsened as championship leader Max Verstappen was having a difficult day and eventually finished fifth and earned 10 points.
If Norris wins, he will take 15 points from Verstappen, closing the gap to 70 points instead of 77 points ahead of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix with 11 rounds left. But when asked whether Norris refused to obey orders, Stella supported her driver. “No, I know Lando well enough, and I know that when you work with a driver, sometimes you have to communicate with all the aspects that exist inside that driver,” Stella explained when asked by RacingNews365 .
“But I know Lando well enough that we have a rider and a team player who come together perfectly to make the right thing for the team, for Oscar and for Lando. “No rider suddenly says, ‘Okay, when are we going to do it?’ because they always hope that they will win 1st place in a major auto racing tournament. “We were very clear before the race so I think this is a situation that proves and illustrates what it means to be part of the McLaren Formula 1 team. “These values sometimes conflict with a racer’s instincts, but the values, culture and interests of the team will always be paramount.”
