David Coulthard believes McLaren must adopt a more championship-winning mindset if they are to challenge for the world title in the final eight races of the 2024 season.
In F1’s Constructors’ standings, it’s still all to play for between Red Bull and McLaren, with team papaya sitting just 8 points adrift from Red Bull.
However, thanks to his seven wins in the first part of the season, Max Verstappen still retains a 62-point lead over Lando Norris, while 44 points separate the latter from his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
Coulthard, speaking on his latest Formula for Success podcast, argues that the spread between the two drivers is too close to implement team orders decisively. Yet, the Scot urged his former team to change its mindset.
“We’re in this situation where there’s only 44 points between Oscar and Lando, where Lando is 62 points behind Max. So arguably, it’s actually too close to call in terms of doing a team order,” Coulthard began.
“There were many people, many of the channels, many of the journalists after Monza saying, ‘McLaren need to get behind one driver’. Quite clearly, if they are, it has to be the guy with more points. That isn’t going to sit comfortably with Oscar.
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“But I think that McLaren now absolutely need to think they’re World Champions. Because if you think you’re lucky to be in a position to win the Constructors’, and you think you’re lucky to win races, you’re not thinking like the champion teams.
“The champion teams are pissed off when they don’t win races. They’re not going, ‘Well, you know, second and third is a good result’, they’re going, ‘What a disaster! We should have won this race!’
“So some big, big debates that will have to take place in the coming weeks.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella acknowledged after last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, where the team was defeated by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, that team orders were under consideration.
“Well, already in our conversation, even before the race here, we acknowledged that Lando is in the best position from a Drivers’ Championship point of view,” Stella said.
“So we have conversations with Oscar, we have conversations with Lando, and we have conversations together, and then we kind of define our rules of engagement.
“I state the fact that we do want to give it a go at the Championship with Lando.”
Eddie Jordan, Coulthard’s co-host and sidekick on the FFS podcast, isn’t convinced that McLaren will take a decisive stance in favor of Norris in the upcoming races, suggesting this would go against the team’s underlying ‘let them race’ philosophy.
“I can guarantee that anything that happens in that team, fairness and sportsmanship will override everything,” commented the former F1 team owner.
“So that’s why I think it’ll be an open book. I think that McLaren owe it to their two drivers to have brought them to where they are at the moment. I think that is not in danger.
“Do I feel that they will pick and say, ‘Okay, Lando, this is your World Championship. Have a go with this and see. Will you help then maybe Oscar the following year?’
“No, I think that’s too elongated, it’s absolutely too much pie in the sky, because things change so dramatically in Formula 1, as we know and as we’ve seen with McLaren.
“I think there will be an open book. And personally, going into the next race, it’s the same, everyone is able to race.”
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