F1 News

Zak Brown found Oscar Piastri aggressive in overtaking Lando Norris

Piastri 'aggressive' in overtaking Norris, McLaren: 'Is about respect'

2 September at 19:00
Last update 2 September at 19:55
  • Corwin Kunst

At McLaren, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are (still) free to race, but crashes are out of the question. At the start of the Italian Grand Prix, the latter was "aggressive", and now they will be looking into that at the British racing stable in the coming week. After all, is it responsible to take so much risk when overtaking your own teammate?

"It was an aggressive move," Zak Brown acknowledged to Sky Sports. Later, the McLaren CEO will talk to both his drivers about it."I have not spoken to them about that yet [...]. We will discuss the aggressive pass. It was a bit nerve-racking on the pit wall. It is about respecting your teammates. They didn't touch, it was an aggressive pass but a clean pass."

For McLaren, the first priority is to be on top in both world championships after 24 races. "They are both young drivers who want to win and we have always believed in having two number ones. That has always been McLaren's way and can be difficult to manage. They get along great and race clean."

Rosberg not a fan of McLaren's philosophy

Not everyone is a fan of the philosophy adopted by the Woking-based racing stable. 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg thinks the current number two among constructors would be wise to throw all the support to Norris, as he has the best chance of overtaking Max Verstappen in the drivers' standings.

"Philosophy is dictated by the very top," said the German analyst. "This comes from Zak Brown. We have two No 1 drivers, and we want to let them race because that's the essence of McLaren, which actually goes back a long time. Andrea now is executing that plan. It's a decision they are taking, but it is definitely hurting Lando."

This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy

Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!

X | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube