Button instructs McLaren: 'It's why Schumacher won so many titles'
F1 News
Jenson Button believes McLaren must "bite the bullet" and be strict with their team orders if they want Lando Norris to become the 2024 Formula 1 World Champion. The former champion even linked the situation to Ferrari and Michael Schumacher's dominant period in F1. Norris and Max Verstappen will resume their battle this weekend with the United States Grand Prix on the schedule.
Norris needs to bridge a 52-point gap to Verstappen to become World Champion. There are just six Grands Prix and three sprint races remaining. The gap could've been closer had Norris maximised his own opportunities. For example, McLaren had the fastest car in Baku, but the British driver failed to escape Q1 due to a mistake. Even by his own admission, he should've won more races at various points through the season.
However, McLaren themselves could've introduced more substantial team orders. For example, Norris lost seven points in Hungary when he was ordered to give a place back to Oscar Piastri. The Australian also caught Norris by surprise on the opening lap around Monza. Button wants McLaren to be much more robust and directly favour Norris at every chance in the closing stages of the season.
How can McLaren help Norris become F1 World Champion?
Button began explaining his view by admitting he has "loved" the fact that McLaren has been reluctant with their team orders because "as racing drivers, you hate them." But he knows they are required against Red Bull and Verstappen in this situation.
"At some point, if you want to win a World Championship, you need to favour one driver. Especially at this point in the World Championship where every single point counts for Lando. If he has any opportunity to become world champion in 2024, he needs every single point," Button said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
In his (likely) final F1 race, former Visa Cash App RB driver Daniel Ricciardo took a point from Norris by securing the fastest lap at the end of the race. Button wants McLaren to deploy similar tactics if the chance arises. "That's even using Oscar [Piastri] to grab the fastest lap if Max [Verstappen] has got it. It's a tricky situation for the drivers but it's got to happen," Button added before highlighting a previous example.
"That's the reason why Ferrari won so many World Championships with Michael Schumacher. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and favour one driver. Oscar has done an amazing job this year but Lando has a good amount more points. If the team want to win, that's going to have to happen," Button concluded.
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