McLaren 'team orders' create ambiguity: Are they there or not?
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'Finally', there are team orders at McLaren. At least, so it seemed. Andrea Stella was clear that the focus would now be on Lando Norris' world championship, but it appeared in Baku that things are slightly different. It was more of a statement for show, and the drivers also seemed to have their own views on the situation.
One sentence from Lando Norris summed up the situation well: "It's more that we've just told you (the media and the fans) what you want to hear finally than anything else." The Briton uttered the sentence amid the barrage of questions as if it didn't matter, but in reality it turns out to be the sentence closest to the truth.
After the Italian Grand Prix, McLaren's race management came under criticism for the umpteenth time in 2024. The drivers battled on track and Charles Leclerc ran away with victory. To make matters worse, Norris finished in P3 just two positions ahead of title rival Max Verstappen. How can McLaren let this happen time and time again?
What are McLaren's team orders?
After the Monza race, McLaren already said that they would scrutinise the existing 'papaya rules'. Norris says the rules have been in place for years but need to be renamed by Andrea Stella to ensure that drivers do not crash with each other. Nothing appears to have changed at all to those rules.
Stella indicated there will be team orders, but Norris was quick to add an important small print. He does not want the world title handed to him as a gift and so, if Oscar Piastri is the faster of the two and is heading for victory, then he gets to keep that victory. Drivers should finish where they deserve to finish, is Norris' verdict.
Both Norris and Piastri argue that fighting with each other on the first lap should be allowed. So GPblog asked Norris what has actually changed: "A lot (of what has changed) is between us. But like in Monza, that second and third place would've been swapped around."
So in reality, the 'team orders' are not about action as we have seen from Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa in the past, but about swapping places when it is not for victory. If Piastri is the fastest man of the weekend, he can 'just' take that win. It's possibly due to pressure from Piastri's manager, Mark Webber, who knows about similar situations from previous experiance.
What do Norris and Piastri think of the team orders?
There are also agreements about racing each other on the first lap. Racing is allowed, but both argue a moment like Monza cannot happen again. So, McLaren may let their drivers race until corner one, maintain the order, and drive away from the competition.
Yet, regarding that situation, the creases have not been ironed out yet. Oscar Piastri is still unaware of any wrongdoing after he passed his teammate on the outside, who then lost his second place to Charles Leclerc. "In those circumstances, what I did was fine. I thought it was a good move."
"It takes both of our cooperation to make sure that that result doesn't happen again. But in those circumstances, it was all by the book and there was nothing wrong with that. It was purely just that the result out of that corner was not exactly what we wanted. In saying that, the results at the end of the race, in my opinion, weren't dictated because of that."
The fact that Norris was not on the same page with his teammate over that action soon became clear. "I think things have just been, say, clarified and cleared up," Norris could not suppress the laughter that followed. That move has been the crucial talking point, and in Baku, it becomes clear that the two sides need some more talks to fully align. With a race weekend ahead, it will be interesting to see how the two behave on the track.
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton
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