McLaren plans to prioritize Lando Norris’ title quest
McLaren plans to review its strategies and priorities over the summer break, to determine how best to support its drivers in the championship race, especially Lando Norris.
McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown announced to the media on Friday that the team will meet this summer to decide whether to prioritize Lando Norris‘s attempt to win the Formula 1 driver’s championship.
This reflection comes after an incident at the Hungarian Grand Prix where Norris was asked to give up his position to his teammate Oscar Piastri, following a strategic overtake by the latter on the final lap of the pit stops. A decision that certainly frustrated Norris (an understatement), who could have scored seven additional points, thereby reducing the gap with Max Verstappen to 69 points.
Zak Brown then expressed his intention to discuss this situation with Andrea Stella, the team principal, during the mandatory summer break. “This will ultimately be Andrea’s decision,” he told Sky Sports. “We want to get through the first half of the season and see where we stand this weekend.”
For better communication at McLaren.
The CEO emphasized that the constructors’ championship is still within reach, although difficult to achieve. He added: “The challenge on the drivers’ side is that Max’s bad days are second and third places, so [it’s difficult] to catch up on the points we score in the constructors’ championship, because Sergio Perez is struggling right now, [but] we also know that he is capable of bouncing back at any time. This is something we will discuss during the summer break.”
Absent in Hungary for the race, Brown specified that he had never doubted that Norris would obey the order to yield to Piastri, despite the insistent calls from his race engineer in the final laps. “I know Lando very well, so I have no doubt that he would move over,” he said. “I think we let the situation drag on a bit too long because they were free to race. If he had made that position change immediately, there were still 21 laps of the race left.”
Brown acknowledged that this decision had caused some worry: « A part of me was actually relieved that they didn’t fight because it would have been 21 laps of nail-biting for me! » He concluded by emphasizing the importance of better communication within the team: « I think everything turned out well in the end. There are lessons to be learned, better communication between us – being clearer with each other. But it all ended well. »
