Russell on McLaren’s team-order talk: ‘Not acceptable of fair’

As Abu Dhabi prepares to crown a world champion, McLaren has finally cracked the door open to team orders – but George Russell believes that asking one driver to move over for the other would be neither acceptable nor reasonable.

With Lando Norris holding a 16-point lead over Oscar Piastri – and both still chasing Max Verstappen – McLaren has tried to keep things balanced.

But on the eve of this weekend’s showdown, Zak Brown openly acknowledged that the team is willing to intervene if it becomes the only route to a McLaren driver lifting the crown.

McLaren Now Open to Nuclear Option

“We're realistic. We want to win this drivers' championship," Brown told Sky F1 when asked if Piastri might be asked to step aside.

"We're coming into the weekend knowing that they both have equal opportunity, even though there's obviously a point spread.

"You don't know how qualifying is going to go, reliability, but if we get into the race and it's becoming pretty clear that one has a chance and the other doesn't, we're going to do what we can to win the drivers' championship. It would be crazy not to.

"We want to win the drivers' championship. So, we'll kind of see how the race plays out, but we're not going to not win the championship because we're trying to protect a third and a fourth or a sixth and a seventh, or however the situation may play out."

Brown stressed the collective goal: "It's a team sport, right? So, we're trying to win the constructors' [championship] as a team, and we're trying to win the drivers' [championship] as a team.

"I know that kind of sounds a bit strange, but if one of them can't win, they want the other to win. And that's what the team wants. And they are team players and we've already seen that last year, right?”

Asking Piastri to Move Over Wouldn’t Be Fair

Russell, watching from just outside the title fight, didn’t hold back when asked whether McLaren should force Piastri aside for Norris.

“I don’t think it’s acceptable or reasonable to ask a driver who also has a shot of the championship in the very last race to move over for your team-mate,” he said.

He agreed team orders have their place – but only when the picture is clear-cut.

“I think if it’s in other seasons gone by, let’s say Checo [Perez] and Max [at Red Bull] or, you know, [Rubens] Barrichello and [Michael] Schumacher [at Ferrari], clearly when one driver is going for the championship and the guy who doesn’t have a shot of winning the championship moves over, that is absolutely reasonable - I think every single driver would do that.

Read also:

• Norris won’t ask Piastri for title help: ‘It’s not really up to me’

“But for me, I don’t think it would be fair at all [this year]. I think they both need to be given a shot.

“And if they lose out because of it, you just need to say the other guy did a better job and that’s racing. That’s how it should be.”

If the scenarios fall into place – Verstappen leading, the McLarens running behind – McLaren may have to choose between fairness and silverware. But Russell’s stance is unambiguous: let them fight, and let the championship be won on merit.

Sunday might test McLaren’s resolve as hard as any lap on track.

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