Piastri: McLaren team order “fair” after Italian GP; Norris affected

Piastri Remains Calm Amid Team Orders at the Italian Grand Prix

Pilot Oscar Piastri downplayed the controversy surrounding McLaren’s team orders at the Italian Grand Prix, calling it “fair” to concede position to teammate Lando Norris in the final stages of the race. However, both Piastri and team boss Andrea Stella pointed out that the situation would be discussed and reviewed before the next round of the championship in Azerbaijan. Piastri, who was in third position behind Norris and Max Verstappen, saw McLaren make the strategic decision to delay the pit stops of both cars, hoping to gain an advantage from a late safety car period. With the aim of protecting Piastri’s podium from Charles Leclerc, who was in fourth place, the Australian was called to the pits before Norris, a decision that broke with McLaren’s practice of favoring the leading car’s strategy. On the radio, Norris was assured that entering the pits second wouldn’t delay him relative to Piastri, but a slow stop due to a change of the front left tire delayed his stop and he reappeared behind his teammate and rival. Piastri was then instructed to slow down and let Norris regain second position before both drivers could compete until the end.

We said a slow pit stop was part of racing. I don’t really understand what changed here, but if they want me to do it, I will.

Lando Norris

Norris finished the race ahead of Piastri, taking three points off his teammate’s lead in the championship, which is now 31 points with eight races to go. “It’s something we’ll discuss, we’ve discussed it before,” Piastri commented. “I think today was a fair request. Lando qualified ahead, was ahead the whole race and lost that position through no fault of his own.” “I said what I had to say on the radio. And once I received the second request, I’m not going to go against the team, I think there are a lot of people to protect and a culture to protect, beyond Lando, and ultimately, that’s something very important for the future.” The situation was similar to that of last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix, where the sequence of pit stops between the two drivers put Norris ahead of Piastri, before he was asked to give the position back.

In Monza, Stella explained that allowing Piastri to pit before Norris was an important factor in the decision to swap the cars once Norris had fallen behind his teammate.

I believe that the situation with the pit stops is not just a matter of fairness, but also of consistency with our principles. Regardless of how the championship goes, the important thing is that it develops within the principles and sporting fairness that we have at McLaren, and that we have created with our drivers.

Andrea Stella

Stella added that the situation should be reviewed before the next race to ensure an agreement between both drivers and the team for the rest of the season.