McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella, says they will continue to review the arrangement between their drivers after Oscar Piastri underlined his talent with a thrilling Azerbaijan Grand Prix victory. McLaren came into the weekend fielding questions over team orders after Piastri’s opportunistic first-lap move in Monza a fortnight ago resulted in title-chasing Lando Norris losing two positions.
They decided the team would favour Norris for the remainder of the season but it was Piastri on the top step of the podium in Baku as the British driver finished fourth, having started from 15th after a disaster in qualifying. Piastri’s second F1 win, brilliantly secured over Charles Leclerc thanks to a daring overtake and dogged defence, actually came in part thanks to Norris working to help his teammate stay ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez during the pit-stop phase.
Stella is aware of the headache that having two such talented drivers can cause but stressed that the position of favouring Norris is not a hard and fast rule. “We have two No 1 drivers effectively and that means that we approach things first of all in the interests of the team,” Stella said.
“The interest of the team is to win the constructors’ championship and to win also the drivers’ championship. Lando was in the most favourable position before this race and still is. I think we have evidence today that actually, interestingly it was Lando supporting Oscar. The race could have unfolded in a completely different way, 50% of Oscar’s victory today is shared with Lando.
“We always intended to review after every race with each driver together what was going to be the best approach for the next races, we will do it and set the plan for Singapore. I think we lead by principles. That leaves you space to assess every situation. When you have defined rules they become defining.”
Norris managed to cut the gap on leader Verstappen by three points to 59 despite starting the race nine places behind, pulling off a superb strategy before catching and passing the three-time world champion. Piastri is fourth, a further 32 points back on Norris ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, and Stella lauded his drivers’ displays in Baku.
“When I saw Piastri going for it [the overtake], my instinct was that he was going to go long [into the run-off area],” Stella added. “The talent, the precision in the execution from Oscar made the difference. I was surprised but Oscar is always surprising us with his talent and his ability. I can’t see any point during the 51 laps where Lando could have done a better job today. Personally while I am always optimistic, a mission that would have led us to be fourth was a little too optimistic.”
For the team it was a landmark day as they moved ahead of Red Bull, who have dominated the sport for the last two seasons, to the top of the constructors’ championship for the first time since 2014.
“We don’t have to forget that at the start of 2023 we were last and now we lead,” Stella added. “That is a huge milestone. But we don’t look at the standings, we just focus on executing at every single event. The car is not yet fast enough to create boring races. That is not in the interests of F1 but is the way in which we want to go racing.”