Team orders for McLaren at Monza
The post-race discussion at the Italian Grand Prix focused heavily on McLaren’s decision to move Lando Norris ahead of Oscar Piastri after the Australian had taken advantage of a slow pit stop by his teammate to snatch second place. At the moment, Piastri appeared hesitant when asked to yield for the team’s benefit, but he eventually followed the order and did not publicly criticize the team’s decision during interviews.
Of course, the fact that Piastri and Norris are competing for the World Championship makes every team decision potentially crucial, as it can directly influence the distribution of points between the two drivers. One person highly familiar with internal championship battles is Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal, who was asked by journalists in Monza for his assessment of the final laps of the Italian GP involving the two McLaren drivers.
Wolff’s analysis
The Austrian manager offered an interesting perspective and appeared to ‘warn’ McLaren of potential consequences: “Good question. There’s no right or wrong in itself. And I’m curious to see how it will turn out. They’ve created a precedent that will be very difficult to erase. What happens if the team makes another mistake and you have to swap the drivers? At the same time, though, it’s not fair to make a driver lose points who is trying to recover because of a team error. So I think we’ll have the answer whether it was right or wrong towards the end of the season, when tensions rise.”
Wolff also explained that, in his view, Piastri and Norris are two “different animals” in the car compared to how Hamilton and Rosberg were in 2016: “They were two fierce competitors who took no prisoners. They raced each other hard. Sometimes it was very difficult for the team to manage. I don’t see this kind of attitude [at McLaren].”
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