The Austrian GP Sprint race showcased how the McLaren car is competitive on every track and also gave some insights into the team dynamics that were not evident so far. It showcased how when the opportunity presents itself, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are free to battle it out on the track. Despite Norris’ advantage in the championship table, there were no team orders issued in his favor. Elaborating on the scenario for the near future, team principal Andrea Stella has revealed it’s too early for such orders.
Norris is currently the lead driver in the team as he is currently second in the standings. The Brit was 62 points ahead of his teammate who was in sixth with 94 points after the Austrian GP sprint. Despite the quantum of these differences, the team did not deem it necessary to intervene and let the 24-year-old pass Piastri for the extra point.
Stella said, “It’s too early in the season to change the order of a sprint, or the order of a race, when this order was gained on track. Oscar just drove well, he took advantage of the fact that Lando opened the door in fighting with Max.”
Andrea Stella on no @McLarenF1 team orders: “It’s too early in the season to change the order of a sprint, or the order of a race, when this order was gained on track. Oscar just drove well, he took advantage of the fact that Lando opened the door in fighting with Max.”
— Adam Cooper (@adamcooperF1) June 30, 2024
In hindsight, they can easily recover a point with 13 races still to go. Additionally, the gap between Norris and the championship leader (71) is greater than his gap to Piastri in sixth. So, now the McLaren duo needs to focus their energies on the constructors’ championship, especially after the chaos that had unfolded on Sunday
Max Verstappen’s convincing Sprint win against Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had a chaotic sequel on Sunday
The Dutchman is back in the past of the calendar where his RB20 is the superior car. He is back to feeling his best in the car and he’s already proving it with a win in the Sprint race and pole position for the main race.
In fact, Verstappen was quite supreme in the sprint race despite constant pressure from the McLaren duo. It was not straightforward from the start as he had to gain back his lead and aggressively defend it in the opening stint of the race from both Norris and Piastri.
However, the Australian driver was out of contention for battling for the lead owing to his lap time deletion in Q3 on Saturday. Thus, coming into the Grand Prix, it was a straight fight between Norris and Verstappen for the win.
While the race on Sunday had been a dull affair, it came alive as the Dutchman had a slow pitstop which gave Norris a sniff at the race win. After multiple laps of battling, the duo came together at turn 3 and suffered punctures due to this major collision.
Verstappen Norris
Incredible scenes at the Red Bull Ring #F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/YvD0dg2TUH
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 30, 2024
The controversy from this collision aside, Norris’ DNF in Austria is going to cost McLaren a decent haul of points in both championships. While Piastri has done some damage control to recover and finish second after starting P7, the Woking team have a tough debrief at hand ahead of their home race next week in Silverstone.
