Why McLaren's team order solution has caused further confusion

Oscar Piastri is ready to hand over Formula 1 race victories to Lando Norris. But it won't come to that.

Norris is grateful that McLaren is now showing “bias” towards him in the 2024 World Championship, but does not want to be “given” the title.

The inner McLaren battle in Monza could repeat itself, but not in the same way as in Italy.

McLaren's Baku weekend began exactly as Monza ended, with the focus on the confusing approach to team instructions amid Norris' attempt to overtake Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the 2024 title fight.

Team principal Andrea Stella explained that McLaren will be “biased” in terms of “support for Lando” from this weekend, but there was a hint of confusion in his statement about how the new approach “will be updated after Baku”.

As Motorsport.com discovered in the Baku paddock, this means that the current team instructions apply on a case-by-case basis and would likely be overturned if Norris were to lose significant ground to Verstappen in this race.

Motorsport.com understands that the “bias” mentioned by Stella also means that when McLaren introduces upgrades at the end of the season and only one set of parts is available, it will be added to Norris' MCL38 first, given the points situation.

Norris then clarified that Piastri was only expected “to take lower positions”, that his teammate would not actually move over if they were first and second, and explained that if Piastri “has fought for a win and he deserves a win, then he deserves to win”.

More specifically, Norris later revealed, “something like in Monza, second or third place, where it would have been swapped,” meaning that from now on, Piastri would actually give Norris an extra place when the two orange cars are back to back and no win is possible.

There were also insightful answers from Norris about how McLaren, in his words, “resolved” Piastri’s attack at the start in Monza.

“We had the biggest gap in the world at the corner entry,” added Norris. “I think that's not ideal for me, but also for us as a team. We shouldn't have driven like that there.”

“I think clearer instructions on how we can compete against each other and how much we can risk with each other, [have been issued].”

Motorsport.com had heard that Piastri's camp were not overly enthusiastic about how Stella's interview was released at the start of the media event in Baku, but when asked if he was happy with the way the team line-up reveal and the new approach overall were communicated, he stuck to his script.

“Selfishly, I would prefer not to, but I'm very aware that it's not just about me and I'm happy to be playing a supporting role at this point in the season.”

His final sentence – “I think earlier in the season it probably would have been over the top, but I think now is the right time to try to help the team win both championships” – was extremely insightful.

There were also inconsistencies at the Monza Pass. Piastri said: “Under these circumstances, what I did was OK,” but added: “It was just that the result from the corner was not quite what we wanted.”

When asked if he would be allowed to make an identical move again this season under the same circumstances, Piastri replied: “In exactly the same scenarios, some things would be different.”

There are several aspects to consider. From a strategic point of view, it makes sense to keep the opponents in the dark about what could happen in live situations on the track. Stella is very keen on this. And rightly so.

This is where much of the confusion lies – McLaren simply doesn't want to promote a one-size-fits-all approach that other teams could potentially exploit on track. The drivers had this in mind when making their comments to the media.

From a strategic point of view, it makes sense to keep opponents guessing about what might happen in live situations on the track. Stella is keen on this. And rightly so.

It is also clear that Norris does not want to win a world championship title that comes with the asterisk “with victories given to him by his teammate”.

Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

“I'm sure it will hurt,” Norris said when asked if there might be a few points less at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. “But I don't know. I'm here to race too. And if a driver is better than me and performs better, I have to do my job better.”

“So, I don't want to take that away from anyone. And I don't want to be given a championship title. Yes, it would be great to have a championship title and in the short term you feel great, but I don't think you would be proud of it in the long term.”

Fine principles that are reminiscent of the gentlemanly ethos of the early years of the World Cup.

But let us remember how Stirling Moss stood up for Mike Hawthorn at the 1958 Portuguese GP, helping him avoid a penalty and keep six points for second place, only to lose the title to his compatriot by one point. As is well known, Moss never won the F1 world title.

This is important because what if this is Norris' only chance to win a title? We can't know at the moment, but even if we are reasonably certain that McLaren will enter 2025 as clear leaders, Piastri's points will also be reset to zero at that point.

He could be as big a rival to Norris as Verstappen in the future. Add to that the upcoming super team of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, the homegrown talent at Mercedes and the current close battle between several teams for Formula 1 glory.

In many ways, McLaren's self-explanation yesterday is entirely acceptable – especially given that the team wants to avoid revealing details of its potential race strategy.

The problem is that the gap to Red Bull is huge, so the logic still holds that the best way to close that gap as quickly as possible is to bet all your money on one driver.

The messages also seem complex, which raises the fear that complexity could mean theoretical problems. But let's wait and see how things go, it is also possible that McLaren will find the winning formula for its first titles in a F1 generation on that day.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

The pressure on McLaren is huge at the moment to be perfect every time, while Verstappen's 62-point lead and current car package dilemma means he can focus solely on getting the highest result for Red Bull – no matter how high up the leaderboard that may be.

The pressure on the world champion will increase later as his lead shrinks further, but for now the pressure is on McLaren with undiminished intensity.