Norris Defended By McLaren Team Principal After Almost Disobeying Team Orders

Tuesday, 23 July 2024 at 18:00

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella discussed the tense situation inside his team that arose during the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix.

During the race in Hungary, McLaren decided to prioritize Lando Norris (who was second) for both rounds of pit stops, which allowed him to undercut Oscar Piastri (who was leading the race until then).

The team has done this, knowing they might have to order Norris to reverse the positions with Piastri, and that was precisely what happened.

What perhaps the Papaya team didn't expect was how tough of a negotiation it would become with the 24-year-old driver who, at the time, wasn't interested in swapping positions back.

Ultimately, Norris returned the place to his Australian teammate (although only after a long time of convincing and arguing on the team radio). Sharing his perspective after the race, Andrea Stella said, as per speedcafe.com:

"I know that when you have a race driver, and you deal with a race driver, sometimes you have to communicate to all the sides that exist inside a race driver."

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Probably all the F1 drivers would have done the same thing if they were in the 24-year-old's position because they are all programmed to win. Although it is a team sport, drivers have to mainly think only about themselves.

Multiple instances from the past show drivers not obeying the team's orders. For example, Max Verstappen refused to give up a position for Sergio Perez at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix (and it wasn't even for the victory).

While it wouldn't be too surprising to see Norris not return the place to Piastri, Stella suggested he always knew he had a team player in the Briton.

"But I know enough and well enough that inside Lando, we have the race driver and the team player."

"These two elements came along perfectly today to generate what was the right thing to do for the team, for Oscar and for Lando."

Former F1 driver and 2026 Champ Nico Rosberg advised McLaren's team principal to be more assertive with his orders next time around because he thought the team left Norris too much space for negotiation.

Stella accepted Rosberg's advice (which was in a different interview), and he also explained that everything that was done during the race at Hungaroring was a prime example of McLaren's culture and values.

"So it's a situation that I think it proves, it shows, and it demonstrates once again what it means to be part of the McLaren Formula 1 team."

"These are the values. Sometimes they conflict with some instinct of a race driver, but the values, the culture and the good for the team stays always the most important thing."