McLaren explain how team orders are designed to avoid Norris vs Piastri drama

McLaren have skyrocketed towards the front of the F1 grid in recent months, behind only Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Piastri and Norris finished on the podium at the F1 Qatar Grand Prix, a day after the rookie won the sprint race.

Team principal Stella told Sky about their thought process with Piastri ahead of Norris towards the end of the grand prix: “After we consolidated the positions at the last stop, we told the drivers to hold position and bring the two cars home. Stay away from the kerbs, avoid track limits, keep it simple.”

But teammate vs teammate issues are inevitable within Formula 1, and Norris bemoaned a “lack of talent” for his frustrating weekend as Piastri won the sprint, a major milestone in the career of a future star.

Stella explained how they avoid a fall-out: “We do prepare the objectives. We remind [ourselves of] our racing principles all the time, in preparation for an event and before the race. 

“We don’t talk about Aston, we just talk about doing a good job. And we do a good job if we stick with our racing principles. One of the principles is that the team comes first, we are fair.”

• Is Norris trying too hard? Will unflappable Piastri cause McLaren power shift?

What if a driver disagrees with the team orders?

“We always, as part of our principles, tell the drivers: ‘When we give you an instruction, come back to us, because we want to be 100% sure that we understand your position. But if we come back to you, stick with it!’”

Piastri had a far more impressive Qatar Grand Prix than Norris, a fascinating dynamic because the Australian is a rookie alongside an established talent who is frequently tipped as a future champion.

Stella stuck up for Norris: “In fairness, we need to distinguish between [the fact that] Oscar qualified ahead and was ahead in the race, and the outright pace.

“Lando was quite quick but struggled to put it all together. In Q3 he was twice 20.0 which would’ve been P2, but it got deleted because of track limits. There are positives, progress from both sides of the garage. At Suzuka we talked about Oscar improving his race pace - look at his race pace today. We remind ourselves what we’re here for - take McLaren to where we belong. Then we think about internal competition.”

Stella stressed the importance of avoiding an intra-team dispute before it happens.

“I can say, we think about it not only in the future, but all the time we go racing. In the weekend and before the race. We are very realistic. These guys drive since they were kids and have objectives to win. We know their personalities, we know very well. We need to manage it very well so that it stays instrumental for the team, and doesn’t become a problem for the team. At the moment we’re in a good positions and we need to stick there.”

The McLaren boss detailed his team’s weekend: “That was, if anything, even better than Suzuka because it came from a difficult starting position. A very good feeling. An even better feeling is thinking about the team at the factory who made this possible.

“Mercedes were quick. Had they not had a problem at the start, I think it would’ve been a problem for us. I acknowledge Mercedes were quick.”

McLaren, at this rate, could begin 2024 as Red Bull’s nearest challengers.

“So far we’re encouraged by what we see,” Stella said about their development.

“The good work from the aerodynamic team, the team in design, to develop the car seems like it’s perpetuating. You always have to be very careful until you put the car on the ground.”