McLaren Aims to Minimize Team Orders in F1 After Recent Norris/Piastri Situations

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris discussing tactics

Formula 1 team McLaren is keen on reducing the necessity for team orders concerning their drivers, following yet another intervention between drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri during the Japanese Grand Prix.

The incident occurred due to the drivers being on slightly varied strategies at the Suzuka circuit. To safeguard against wasting precious race time in combat and potentially jeopardizing a double podium finish, McLaren found it essential to instruct Piastri to make way for Norris.

Such directives are becoming somewhat familiar, as previously observed during the Hungarian and Italian Grands Prix, where similar strategies were employed by the team.

The head of the McLaren team, Andrea Stella, remains confident that the decisions to adjust driver positions as the race progressed were justifiable. However, he acknowledges that it's a measure he hopes remains exceptional. Reflecting on the comparison between the instruction given in Japan and the prior races in Hungary and Italy, Stella commented, "It was much, much easier in a way, as those two situations were stressful, especially the one in Monza."

Andrea Stella, McLaren F1 team principal

Will try to avoid future stress

Delving deeper into the strain it placed on the team, he stated, "And when I say stressful, I mean stressful because we created stress between our two drivers, which we could have avoided, really." Stella emphasized that they've since analyzed their approach. While he acknowledges that similar situations might arise in the future, he stressed that when it's feasible to sidestep such decisions, they should do so.

Elaborating on the Japan incident, Stella explained, "The approach was to observe how rapidly Lando was approaching and determine if he could overtake organically. Upon realizing the maneuver wasn't coming as naturally as hoped, the decision was made to request a position swap to prevent further loss of race time."

One tenth gained every saved lap

Stella also touched upon the significant pace difference noticed between Norris and Piastri during the Japanese Grand Prix. He believes this gap, evident when the team had to step in, might have been emphasized due to heightened tyre wear. "In a race like this, every lap of tyre that you save, so if you pit one lap later than someone else, you stand to gain one-tenth," Stella elaborated. Highlighting the specifics of the race, he pointed out, "Lando pitted six laps after, making his car inherently six-tenths faster."

Furthermore, Stella praised Norris's impeccable race pace, stating, "Lando's pace was commendable in every respect." He also mentioned the need for introspection concerning Piastri's performance, suggesting, "We need to explore where Oscar could potentially make up for the slight pace difference he exhibited in comparison to Lando."