McLaren’s Lando Norris needs all the help he can get if he is going to seriously challenge Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for Formula One title this season. And as far as McLaren is concerned, he will get it.
In a recent interview with BBC, McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella, said that the constructor would back Norris over his teammate Oscar Piastri for the remainder of the 2024 campaign. This means that Norris will get a more favorable strategy for races and that Piastri will be asked to sacrifice his own performance in favor of Norris.
“We [will] bias our support to Lando, but we want to do it without too much compromise on our principles,” said Stella. “Our principles are that the team interest always comes first. Sportsmanship for us is important in the overall way we go racing. And then we want to be fair to both drivers.”
Until now, McLaren has been committed to allowing Norris and Piastri to race without too much input. However, recent events at the Italian Grand Prix prompted the team to change its approach.
Norris got pole position in Monza, and Piastri started the race at P2. But the start of the race saw Piastri overtaking Norris, disrupting the team’s strategy and helping Ferari’s Charles Leclerc emerge victorious.
Norris is a safer bet for McLaren, considering he is 62 points behind leader Verstappen on the F1 Drivers’ rankings. Piastri, on the other hand, is fourth in the standings and trails Verstappen by 106 points.
