Norris and Piastri ready to help each other at Abu Dhabi? McLaren responds on potential team orders
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have addressed the possibility of using team orders to prevent Max Verstappen from winning the 2025 World Championship at Abu Dhabi.
When the championship is contested among three drivers, the calculations become complex. And if two of those three are from the same team, the situation becomes exponentially trickier. For this reason, there has been a lot of discussion in recent days about whether Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri might use team orders to block Max Verstappen from clinching the title at the Yas Marina Circuit.
For the British McLaren driver, a third-place finish on Sunday is enough to secure his first World Championship. Achieving this may require assistance from his teammate, who is sixteen points behind in the standings but still hopeful of pulling off what would be, in many ways, an extraordinary feat.
The McLaren duo’s take on the issue
As expected, team orders were a key topic during the press conference opening the final weekend of the season, which involved all three title contenders. “Team orders between us at McLaren, if necessary? We haven’t discussed it, and honestly, I’d be happy to do it. But I don’t think I would ask—it would be up to Oscar to decide. If not, I would be willing to follow through,” Lando Norris said.
His teammate shared a similar perspective. “We haven’t discussed team orders, but until I know exactly what it would involve, I don’t know how to respond,” Oscar Piastri added, quickly closing the subject.
With both drivers still free to race each other under McLaren’s long-standing “papaya rules”, the team has so far resisted imposing orders. Whether that stance survives Sunday night – when every position could decide the destination of the 2025 drivers’ title – remains one of the biggest talking points heading into the Yas Marina weekend.
Leave a Reply