The Baku GP is fast approaching, and along with it, another chapter in this year’s Championship battle. After plenty of conversations about McLaren’s driver situation, team principal Andrea Stella says that Lando Norris will be given priority moving forward.
Andrea Stella says McLaren to give Norris priority over Piastri
There are several battles to monitor in the remainder of the F1 season. In the constructors’ standings, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari are all within 40 points – with any of these teams capable of ending this year as Champions.
However, it is the driver’s title that inevitably generates more focus and attention.
Not only have McLaren’s operational errors thrown away many points this year, but questions have been posed about their commitment to securing the drivers’ crown with Lando Norris.
Speaking in a recent interview, Andrea Stella made clear that his team are prepared to make tough decisions:
“The overall concept is we are incredibly determined to win. But we want to win in the right way,” he told the BBC.
“We [will] bias our support to Lando. But we want to do it without too much compromise on our principles.
“Our principles are that the team interest always comes first. Sportsmanship for us is important in the overall way we go racing. And then we want to be fair to both drivers.
“What we don’t want to see any more is a situation like in Monza, in which we enter a chicane 1-2 and we exit 1-3. Because that is a detriment to the team.
“The team interests comes first, and these are situations that, above all, we need to fix…
“The conversations have been very collaborative.
“Even when I said to Oscar – ‘Would you be available to give up a victory?’ He said – ‘It’s painful, but if it’s the right thing to do now, I will do it.”
A big test for McLaren
McLaren are now entering uncharted territory, with this season being their first title battle since 2012. For a combination of reasons, the next few months will be very tense for the Woking-based team.
To some degree, prioritising the driver most likely to win the Championship makes sense. However, this messaging will not sit well with Oscar Piastri.
The Australian is performing at a very high level in just his second year of Formula 1. He is far from a number 2 driver and will not accept this role for too long.
In any case, McLaren still have time to demonstrate they are capable of navigating the fine balance necessary to win in F1.
