Piastri Gives His Honest Verdict On McLaren's Team Orders After Having To Let Norris Pass
F1Tuesday, 26 March 2024 at 01:30
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri delivered his verdict on the team orders he received during his home- 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
Oscar Piastri started the third race of the season at Albert Park Circuit from P5- right behind his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who started the race from P3 after moving up a position due to Sergio Perez's penalty.
He didn't manage to overtake the 24-year-old on track. However, he found himself ahead of Norris on lap 15 because he stopped for a new set of tires five laps earlier and performed an undercut on his teammate.
Despite showing a better pace, Norris was stuck behind the Australian driver until lap 29, when Piastri received team orders to let the Briton through.
The Melbourne crowd didn't like the fact that their hometown hero had to step aside for his teammate, but Piastri told the media after the race he thought it was appropriate.
"For me, it was completely fair. He qualified in front of me yesterday, he went a bit longer on the first stop, he was catching me and quicker at that point of the race."
"At that point, I was keeping with Leclerc, and Lando was catching both of us. So I was honestly kind of hoping he'd pass me and go and get Charles. But yeah, I mean, that was completely fair."
Norris then proved he was faster when he pulled a 12-second gap on the 22-year-old before the end of the race (although Piastri made a small mistake that contributed to the gap).
Nevertheless, McLaren wanted to catch up with Ferrari, and that didn't happen in the end. Piastri emphasized that he still thought it was "completely fair" to let his teammate through under the given circumstances. He added:
Of course, at home, I would have loved to be able to stay in third but for me, it was completely fair. A couple of mistakes when it mattered, which is a bit frustrating. But today's been a solid result.
"A little bit of an off at the end of the second stint, and I grained the tyres a little bit there as well. I just struggled a bit in that part of the race. Apart from that, it was a pretty strong day."
Even though he lost to his teammate during the Australian Grand Prix, Piastri is still one point ahead of Norris in the Drivers' Championship, where he is currently fifth.
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