Oscar Piastri clarifies his stance on McLaren team orders amid Lando Norris title battle. Oscar Piastri has once again clarified his stance on team orders at McLaren.

Oscar Piastri recently reaffirmed that he is willing to follow team orders at McLaren and help his teammate.

The team has recently decided to prioritize Lando Norris’s chances as they aim to win both world championships in 2024. The Woking team was reluctant to impose such a measure until Oscar Piastri’s first-lap overtake at Monza contributed to losing the win to Ferrari.

Despite this, the Australian has shown his determination with an outstanding victory in Baku, while Norris again demonstrated to McLaren that he is the closest to the title this year with a dominant performance in Singapore.

With six races and three sprints left in the 2024 calendar, Lando Norris is the closest to Max Verstappen. The British driver is 52 points behind the three-time world champion. Oscar Piastri reiterated that he is available to help Norris close this gap but emphasized that the requests must be reasonable.

The Australian stated: “The team wants to win both championships. If you have the opportunity to do so, you can’t let it slip away. If I think only about myself, I don’t like team orders against me. No driver does. For your pride, you want to prove you’re the fastest driver on track.” – he pointed out.

“However, I will help Lando in the final races if they ask me to. He has the most realistic chances of winning the title,” he added. “But it’s not a blank check. It has to make sense for me to let him pass.”

Oscar Piastri explained that his view on team orders stems from the desire not to jeopardize McLaren’s chance of winning the constructors’ title, which would be their first since 1998.

With McLaren’s double podium in Singapore, the team solidified its position, extending the lead over Red Bull to 41 points. After all, the reigning champions haven’t won even once in the last eight races.

“We also want to win the constructors’ championship, and sacrificing my race to help Lando won’t help us achieve that goal. We’ll decide on a case-by-case basis,” the Australian said.

Finally, he acknowledged the crucial role Norris played in his recent success in Baku, stating that he probably wouldn’t have won without the Brit: “Baku showed how we do things at McLaren. If Lando [Norris] hadn’t held up [Sergio] Perez after the first pit stop, maybe I wouldn’t have won. He had [an important] part in my victory.” – the McLaren driver concluded ahead of the United States Grand Prix.