Questions about the leadership at McLaren have been raised by the team’s orders scandal, which saw Lando Norris consider defying the order to give teammate Oscar Piastri the lead in Hungary.
McLaren will decide quickly whether to support Lando Norris’ driver’s title ambition by offering him preferential treatment.
Following the team orders scandal that overshadowed McLaren’s one-two finish in Budapest last weekend, concerns have been raised over the leadership at the team. Oscar Piastri became victorious in the race, but only after Norris grudgingly complied with the directive to give the lead to his partner.
Despite finishing in second place, Norris managed to narrow the points difference with championship leader Max Verstappen. Although McLaren would have received the same amount of points, the Briton would have been closer if he had been permitted to maintain the lead. He is currently 79 points down.
In spite of this, Norris stated to reporters at Spa-Francorchamps, including Mirror Sport, that he did not anticipate being ranked first just yet. “I still have to earn it,” he remarked. It doesn’t seem to change that I still have to drive faster than everyone else, and I’m not sure why you would suddenly have a bias.
“Despite what may have appeared on the outside, there has never been bias within the team. We’re only halfway through the season, and I have a shot [at the crown]. There is still more to be determined, so perhaps a little bit later on in the process.”
Prior to making that choice, McLaren will not delay. Following the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend, Formula One will enter its yearly summer break. Team principal Andrea Stella will then decide whether to give Norris the title of world champion for the remainder of the season, according to chief executive Zak Brown.
The American stated: “In the end, Andrea will make that decision. Our goal is to finish the first half of the season and find out this weekend’s outcome. Even though it won’t be simple, I believe winning the constructors’ title is still very much in reach.
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“I think the challenge on the drivers’ front is that Max’s bad days are second and third places, so [it’s hard] to make those clawbacks that we’re making on the constructors’ that we can do because Sergio Perez is struggling at the moment, [but] we also know he’s capable of turning it on at any moment.”
Brown continued by saying that even though it took Norris almost 20 laps to move aside for Piastri, he had “no doubt” that the driver would obey the team’s orders in Budapest. “I believe we left it a bit long because they were free to race,” he stated. There would have been 21 laps remaining in the race if he had made the shift in place immediately.
“I admit that I was a little relieved that they decided not to race since I would have been biting my nails for 21 laps! In the end, I believe everything worked out. We learned a few things there and improved our communication to be more explicit with one another, but in the end everything worked out.”
