Oscar Piastri had a dream weekend at the Qatar Grand Prix as he scored 26 points for McLaren. The Australian managed to score a perfect eight for winning the sprint race on Saturday before adding another 18 for finishing second in the main race on Sunday. Even though Lando Norris also scored 21 points, it was not the smoothest of weekends for him. Moreover, since Piastri was the quicker of the two in both the sprint and the main race, McLaren issued team orders in favor of the Australian. Following the conclusion of the race, McLaren boss Andrea Stella explained how team orders impacted Norris. The Italian believes that it’s both a “curse and a blessing” for the 23-year-old to have Piastri as a teammate.
Norris was far from happy throughout the weekend as after most sessions he expressed his frustrations with himself. After Piastri outqualified him during the sprint shootout, the interviewer asked Norris to explain if there was a problem that the car had that resulted in him struggling. In reply, the 23-year-old said (as quoted by crash.net), “Nothing just lack of talent“.
Lando being so supportive of the team but so self deprecating to himself🥲🫶 pic.twitter.com/s3iDYC3TSp
— Lando Norris Fans (@Norrislandofans) October 7, 2023
Norris’ frustrations then also carried forward after the sprint race as he explained how it was not the “nicest feeling” for him to see Piastri grab a win before himself. The Briton then made it clear that while he was happy for Piastri and McLaren, he said that he was furious with himself.
That wasn’t the end of the frustrations for Norris as he then also reminded the team that he was the faster of the two cars during the main race. Eventually, McLaren ordered the 23-year-old to stick to his position and the Bristol-born driver reluctantly abided. After a frustrating weekend for Norris, Stella has now explained how the team orders impacted his driver.
Stella believes the challenge of Piastri will help Norris improve even further
While speaking to the media after the Qatar Grand Prix, Andrea Stella explained the team orders that McLaren gave to Lando Norris. Even though many believed that the team orders resulted in tensions in the side, the 52-year-old has now explained why the Briton questioned them at the beginning.
“We want to make sure we understand your (driver’s) point of view. Like ‘challenge us’, tell us exactly what you think. We will reassess the situation and come back to you. But once we come back to you, just respect it,” explained Stella (as quoted by pitdebrief.com).
Since McLaren ultimately decided that it was best for Norris to stay behind Piastri during the race, the Italian believes that the 23-year-old then respected the team orders. However, for Norris, it felt like another setback to once again finish behind his rookie teammate.
Speaking of the challenge that Piastri is posing to the Briton, Stella added, “So for me, Lando sees this as a bit of discomfort, but it is the discomfort you need to become the best in a way. It’s a curse and a blessing to be a champion“. While Norris did not seem too happy with McLaren’s team orders, Piastri expressed his surprise with them as well.
Oscar Piastri was surprised McLaren told Lando Norris to stay put
After grabbing second place during the main race of the Qatar Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri expressed his surprise with McLaren’s team orders. The Australian said (as quoted by motorsportweek.com), “I was a little bit surprised, to be honest. I would have accepted it either way. But obviously, there was a lot of concerns about tires and track limits and stuff. So yeah, I think getting second and third for the team was the most important thing“.
With Norris eventually obeying team orders, he finished a little over a second behind Piastri. Now, with Piastri beating Norris once again, it was a special weekend for him as it was one of the very few times when he beat the Briton this season.
Now, with five races remaining in the 2023 season, the two will hope to score some more good points for the team as they battle to finish fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. As things stand, the Woking-based outfit are currently in fifth with 219 points, 11 points behind fourth-placed Aston Martin.
