McLaren He decided it was time to change things within the team. After the mess of monzathe orange team decided to go first Lando Norris and? Oscar Piastri assist the Briton if necessary, although this group’s orders will only apply at specific times, with the possibility of Piastre give Norris some achievements to help him in his pursuit Verstappen.
In Italy, Oscar Piastriwith Lando Norris fighting for the title, snatching first position from his teammate in a move that took the team from 1-2 on the first lap and gave Leclerc a great chance of victory. That was the key for Charles to beat those from Woking and, with Norris in third, Lando lost vital points in the race for the drivers’ world title against Verstappen who suffered in 6th.
Norris could have left Monza 52 or 53 points behind Max with 8 rounds to go, but he ended up leaving on 62, a deficit the Englishman wants to try to reduce as soon as possible starting this weekend in Baku , where Red Bull Max Verstappen is expected to continue to have balance problems.
In the preview of this race in Azerbaijan, the Team Principal of the ‘Papaya’ team, Andrea Stella, was clear about this and made sure that Piastri agreed to help Norris, although he admitted that he would give Lando the victory if necessary, by far painful to do.
“We want to do this without compromising too much on our principles, which are based on the fact that the interest of the team always comes first. For us, sportsmanship is important to the way we compete. And then we want to be fair to both driver”which is expressed in the statements collected by the portal ‘Motorsport.com’.
And obviously Monza will never happen again. “What we no longer want to see is a situation like Monza, where we enter a chicane with first and second position and leave with first and third. Because that is a detriment to the team”he declared.
“First is the interest of the team and these are the situations that above all we must fix because in the end, in fact, the way we entered the race at Monza opened the door to this situation”He added, making sure his conversations with his two pilots were very productive.
“Even when I said to Oscar, ‘Are you willing to give up a win?’ He said, ‘It hurts, but if it’s the right thing to do right now, I’ll do it.'”revealed.
Of course, Stella stressed that the team’s strategy to track orders “Will be updated after Baku”, That is, depending on the result and how the World Cup turns out, it will decide whether Oscar should continue to help Norris if necessary.
“After Monza, McLaren has three goals: we have to make sure that whatever happens on the track does not harm the team. The second goal is: how can we win the two championships, drivers and constructors, with two drivers. committed. helping? And what we don’t want is to win carelessly.
Also the CEO of McLaren, Zak Brown acknowledged this change of position: “We’ll give it our all. Oscar will do everything he can to help. Both drivers are incredible, but Lando is now in a position where he can see the title. “.
It should be remembered that while Norris is second in the World Championship and facing the last 8 races of the year 62 points behind Verstappen, Oscar Piastri is fourth on 106, 10 points behind third, Leclerc. In the Constructors’ World Championship, McLaren are second, 8 points behind Red Bull, with Ferrari 31 points behind the orange team in third place.
McLaren, golden opportunity
McLaren currently has the best car at the most number of tracks and should be the favourite, although Ferrari can fight for victory in Baku and Singapore and the parity could be huge in the latter part of the season. In that context, McLaren should make the most of its current situation and not waste points on its two drivers thinking about two titles. And no one knows whether those in orange will have such a good chance next year or in 2026, when the technical and engine regulations will change a lot.
McLaren hasn’t won the constructors’ title since 1998. They don’t want to waste this golden opportunity.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
