Despite Lando Norris’ pursuit of the Drivers’ championship, McLaren has refused to name him as its number one driver in 2024. The Woking-based team wants Oscar Piastri to keep pushing him, with their main goal being to win the Constructors’ title. This has cost Norris wins, and consequently, a lot of points.
Assessing the situation, Peter Windsor felt that McLaren did not predict becoming a dominant force on the track before the season . Therefore, they lacked a structured approach in dealing with driver dynamics.
“I suspect some of it is a lack of planning due to not anticipating that ‘We are going to be this competitive’, and not, therefore, having any sort of contingency plan built into the year as to what they would do,” Windsor said on his YouTube channel.
Lando and Oscar when asked if Mclaren should back Lando:
Norris: “It’s not up to me. I think as any driver you don’t want things to play that way. I wouldn’t say we’re running out of time but time is going away slowly. It’s not for me to decide.”
Piastri: “No comments.” pic.twitter.com/3zVpEufpZS
— McLaren News | (@McLarenF1_News) September 1, 2024
McLaren didn’t start the season as the fastest, with Red Bull comfortably winning early races. However, upgrades from the Miami GP onwards shifted McLaren’s fortunes, allowing them to surpass Red Bull in performance and fight for both titles. Now, just eight points behind in the Constructors’ with eight races remaining, McLaren has a real shot at the crown—if Red Bull’s advantage doesn’t return soon.
The main problem, however, lies with Norris’ battle. Having Piastri on his tail constantly, is not helping Norris focus on chasing down Max Verstappen, who leads the championship by 62 points.
At the same time, Norris has not called McLaren out for not supporting or helping him, and it is because he has become a ‘modern day Nelson Piquet’, according to Windsor.
Norris is to McLaren what Piquet was to Williams
Joining Williams in 1986, Piquet had an innate feeling that no one was quicker than him, and that included his teammate Nigel Mansell – one of the fastest on the grid. That’s why he never asked Williams to prioritize him, believing that he would take care of things on the track.
Per Windsor, Norris is going through the same thing with Piastri. He presumably wants to get the better of the Aussie (and the rest of the grid) through his own talent, which is likely why he hasn’t intervened.
The F1 expert also believes that Norris has enough experience to take the lead-driver role at McLaren. Before teaming up with Piastri, Norris was teammates with Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo – two multi-time Grand Prix winners.
Currently, he leads Piastri by 44 points, something Windsor suggested should be enough to justify his claim of being number one at McLaren.
