69 points was the gap coming into the Austrian GP weekend between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. With the way the fight for wins is going, every point will matter at the end of the season. Yet, Oscar Piastri decided to keep P2 in the Sprint making Norris lose a point to Verstappen. Regardless, Jolyon Palmer hailed McLaren for the decision that’ll maintain harmony at the team.
“You have to think about team harmony as well. Do you want to demoralize Oscar when he’s up in the Top 3 after a tricky weekend in Barcelona? He needs the chance to go racing with the big boys”, said Palmer in F1 TV’s post-Sprint show as he explained why there were no team orders at McLaren to let Norris by after Piastri overtook him.
Great camerawork from the skies
Another angle on that magic mini-battle between Verstappen, Norris and Piastri #F1Sprint #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/0m5mrJIRgK
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 29, 2024
Palmer further explained how Norris did lose out a point or Verstappen. However, the decision made sure that the bond between the two drivers remained strong. He added, “The Sprint has cost Norris one point but it’s important to keep both drivers happy. It’s nice that they can fight in sprint and still finish P2 and P3”.
It is still too early in the season for the team to get involved in such a decision. Andrea Stella was asked the same question about Piastri finishing ahead of Norris. When asked if they thought about the team’s order to let the Brit by, he explained that there’s still a long way to go in the season. If required later in the season, they’ll do the needful.
Nonetheless, while things were looking positive for McLaren in the Sprint, Verstappen changed the mood around the Papaya team. The cherry on top was Piastri’s time deletion during the final Q3 run.
Oscar Piastri Q3 Lap Deletion Saga puts McLaren on the backfoot
Oscar Piastri set a lap time in his final Q3 run good enough to start on the second row of the grid. Unfortunately, the Aussie’s time was deleted for track limit as he ran wide at Turn 6. This put Piastri all the way back in P7, just ahead of Sergio Perez.
McLaren launched an appeal into the time deletion. After review, the decision came back that the deletion would stand. Max Verstappen is likely to win the race given the pace shown by him in qualifying. Norris is faster than the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers. As a result, a P2 finish is likely if there aren’t any incidents.
Piastri starts P7 behind both Ferrari and Mercedes cars. Although he is quicker than the two teams, there will be a DRS train of those four cars. It is exponentially difficult to pass in the DRS train especially when there are three zones on the track in Austria.
If Piastri can get past during the pit stops or somehow on track, McLaren will close in the constructor’s championship. However, Norris will lose points to Verstappen in the driver’s championship if the Dutchman wins.
