McLaren has made a pivotal decision in its pursuit of Formula 1 glory: the team will implement team orders in the final eight races of the 2024 season to prioritize Lando Norris’ bid for the Drivers’ Championship.
With Norris narrowing Max Verstappen's once insurmountable lead to just 62 points, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella confirmed the team would give Norris priority over teammate Oscar Piastri, who currently sits fourth in the standings, 106 points behind Verstappen.
So far, McLaren has applied an even-handed approach to managing its drivers, allowing the latter to race freely in accordance with the team’s minimal risk ‘papaya rules’.
However, as the championship intensifies and with McLaren’s car now heading the field, the time has come for the team to shift its commitment towards prioritizing Norris.
"The overall concept is we are incredibly determined to win, but we want to win in the right way,” Stella told BBC Sport.
"We [will] bias our support to Lando but we want to do it without too much compromise on our principles.
"Our principles are that the team’s interest always comes first. Sportsmanship for us is important in the overall way we go racing. And then we want to be fair to both drivers.”
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McLaren’s change of stance follows a missed opportunity at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, where both of its drivers started on the front row of the grid but lost the race to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc after a first-lap wheel-to-wheel tussle between Norris and Piastri.
The skirmish cost the team – and especially Norris – valuable points, and highlighted the risk of withholding team orders.
"What we don't want to see any more is a situation like in Monza in which we enter a chicane P1/P2 and we exit P1/P3. Because that is a detriment to the team,” acknowledged Stella.
"The team interests come first and these are the situations that above all we need to fix because eventually, as a matter of fact, the way we entered the race in Monza left the door open to this situation.”
©McLaren
In light of the lessons from Monza, Stella outlined three key objectives for the remainder of the season.
"After Monza, three objectives: we need to make sure that anything that happens on track is not to the detriment of the team,” he added.
"Second objective, how do we win both championships, both drivers committed to help? But what we don't want to do is win in a reckless way.
"Those are the three topics and they define the way we go racing in Baku. This will be updated after Baku.”
Piastri, who has shown immense promise this season, has reportedly accepted the team’s decision with maturity.
According to Stella, the Aussie understands the team’s priorities and is willing to play a supporting role, even if it means sacrificing personal victories.
"The conversations have been very collaborative," said the Italian.
“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
As the season reaches its critical stages, McLaren’s decision to prioritize Norris represents a significant shift in strategy.
With the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships still within reach, the British team is focused on executing a delicate balance between ambition and ethics.
The stakes are high, but if McLaren can pull off the final stretch of the season as planned, they could dethrone Red Bull and Verstappen, making history in the process.
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