McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella, has announced that the team will reevaluate its strategy regarding team orders to bolster Lando Norris’ pursuit of the Formula One world championship.
During the recent Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc emerged victorious, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Norris finished in second and third place, respectively. Despite Max Verstappen’s disappointing sixth-place finish, Norris was only able to gain eight points on the reigning world champion.
Norris has consistently been one of the main competitors to Verstappen’s dominance. However, McLaren’s policy of allowing drivers to race freely was evident at Monza, where Piastri overtook Norris on the first lap. This strategy, combined with Ferrari’s successful one-stop strategy, ultimately limited Norris’s opportunity to gain ground in the championship standings.
Following the race, McLaren faced scrutiny for not implementing team orders to support Norris more effectively. Questions were raised about why the team did not rearrange their drivers’ positions towards the end of the race to maximize Norris’s points.
Stella acknowledged that with McLaren now firmly in contention for both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, a reassessment of team tactics is on the table. He indicated that if team orders are deemed beneficial for Norris’s championship chances, they will be considered for the upcoming races.
McLaren currently trails Red Bull by eight points in the constructors’ standings, and this is the first instance this season where the team appears to recognize a genuine opportunity in the drivers’ championship. The shift in perspective comes as Norris has been steadily closing the gap to Verstappen and with Red Bull showing a recent decline in performance.
Stella noted that McLaren’s competitiveness at various tracks, including those where they struggled last year, has bolstered their confidence. With Verstappen having not won a race since June and McLaren showcasing strong performance at both high-downforce and low-downforce circuits, Stella emphasized the importance of capitalizing on these opportunities to advance in the championship.
