McLaren is currently engaged in a passionate dispute regarding the title of Formula One.
The McLaren Formula 1 team is hot on the trail of the World Championship title and is now focusing all its energies on supporting Lando Norris. Instead of an internal fight without any restrictions, Norris, who is chasing title defender Max Verstappen, will now have absolute priority. However, the team wants to remain fair to Oscar Piastri.
As the World Championship rivals prepare for the thrilling street race in Baku, Max Verstappen's toughest challengers face a difficult decision. With eight races left in this surprising F1 season, does McLaren have a team order to make Lando Norris the World Champion? "We're going up against Max Verstappen, so I think if we want to support a driver, we should back the one who's in the best position," says team principal Andrea Stella.
From now on, Norris, who is currently the World Championship runner-up, will be given priority over the team's young star Oscar Piastri in their internal duel. Is this a decisive move towards helping Norris achieve the first McLaren driver's title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008? The traditional team isn't making things so simple. "I think the number one role makes for a catchy headline, but it's hard to implement in reality," explains Italian Stella.
The former Ferrari engineer is aware of the delicate debates that have often surrounded the controversial team orders in F1. He remembered the beginning of the century, when Michael Schumacher's victories at Ferrari were given priority over his teammate Rubens Barrichello. Now, Stella himself is facing the question of how much he is willing to bet on Norris in the final stretch of the season.
Norris: Already lost many points
"I have complete faith in the team," says Norris before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday (13:00 CET on RTL and Sky, and in the ntv.de live ticker). He has narrowed the gap between him and defending champion Verstappen in the overall standings to 62 points. Team colleague Piastri is 44 points behind Norris, but managed to finish ahead of him in recent races in Monza and Hungary.
"I wouldn't say time is running out, but it's ticking away slowly," says Norris. He also gives a subtle suggestion to the team management: "When you're fighting for a championship, you want to optimize every small detail."
In other words, Norris can't afford to lose any more points. Without his initial weaknesses and some tactical mistakes by the team, he might already be in the lead for the World Championship. But does that mean that the ambitious Piastri now has to slow down for Norris, like he did on the first lap of Monza? "If you support your teammate to win the championship for the team, that's a massive boost," says team principal Stella.
McLaren history: Toxic duel Senna against Prost
McLaren's influential business manager Zak Brown is not yet willing to publicly abandon the so-called "Papaya Rules," which have been internally adopted in reference to the team's color. The only rule for Norris and Piastri so far has been fair but intense racing, without damaging each other's cars. Brown's top priority is likely to be winning the Constructors' Championship, which determines the distribution of the series' billions in revenue. It would be the first team title since 1998. McLaren is only eight points behind Red Bull in this classification, after Norris and Piastri scored 104 more points than Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Pérez in the recently completed European season.
"We've always believed in having two number-one drivers, that was McLaren's way. It can be challenging to manage, as we saw with Senna and Prost," says Brown. During their time together at McLaren, top stars Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost took their rivalry to legendary heights, culminating in a memorable collision in the 1989 World Championship finale.
Norris knows the best way out of the team order dilemma. "The simplest solution is if I just win the races," says the World Championship runner-up. There are 232 points still up for grabs. If Norris crosses the finish line first in every remaining Grand Prix and Sprint races, he could become the next Formula 1 World Champion on his own merit.
The decision to prioritize Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri in their internal duel could significantly boost Norris's chances of becoming the first McLaren driver to win the World Championship since Lewis Hamilton in 2008. In the upcoming races, Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen, Norris's main rival, will be closely watched, especially by Norris himself, who is currently the World Championship runner-up.
