McLaren to review its position on team instructions in Las Vegas
Oscar Piastri claims that McLaren has changed its stance on the use of team orders, since his teammate Lando Norris's hopes of winning the F1 world title are now all but dashed.
Lando Norris’s ambitions for the World Championship took a serious blow at the São Paulo Grand Prix, where he went from pole position to sixth place during the race. While his title rival, Max Verstappen, made a spectacular comeback, winning after starting 17th.
This result allowed the Dutchman to increase his lead in the championship with 62 points, with only three races left in the season, virtually ending Lando Norris’s chances of winning his first title this year.
Max Verstappen will be crowned world champion at the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend if he maintains a lead of at least 60 points after the race.
Adjustments to the instructions
This situation could cause McLaren to no longer ask Piastri, who had given up victory in the sprint to Norris in Brazil, to play a support role. When asked at a press conference in Las Vegas about returning to an equal position with Lando Norris, the Australian replied that: « There are still a few very specific scenarios where I could be called upon to help. But for the vast majority of situations, we return to how things were before. »
« The title chances for the drivers are very slim, and the constructors’ championship is far from over for us. It is not a given, so it is clearly the main goal. There are some very specific cases where I could still help if asked, but I approach the weekend with the intention of winning.
Although Piastri has agreed to play a supporting role for the Briton, he emphasized his desire not to find himself in this situation next season. « I’m glad we don’t have to focus on this kind of thing anymore, and obviously, next year I want to make sure I don’t find myself in a similar championship situation. »
» Honestly, I wasn’t so disappointed to give up this victory. Of course, I would have liked to win the sprint, but it’s a very different situation from a Grand Prix. I proved what I wanted to prove by qualifying on pole, and it was mostly for myself. Qualifying on pole for the sprint, even if I had won the sprint, was less satisfying than the pole itself. I knew I had done the right things in the sprint, and that’s what matters to me.
« But in reality, we probably had to help this time in Brazil, and that’s it. So there were a lot of discussions for ultimately little impact on the track. »
