McLaren has had the outright fastest car on the grid for some time now. However, the team seemed reluctant to prioritize Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri for the drivers’ championship as they kept sticking to the ‘Papaya Rules’. However, now that Norris is quickly closing the gap to Max Verstappen in the last two races, the Woking squad has finally convinced Piastri to help out his teammate.
In Thursday’s driver’s conference ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Piastri revealed that the team has finally asked him to help his teammate and he has agreed to do so. Although, he is not thrilled with the idea of playing the role of a second driver.
However, he also mentioned that he was not totally opposed to helping Norris in past races had the team asked him to do so.
“The team has asked me to help out, and I’ve said for the last few races if I was asked I would. As a driver, it’s not an easy thing to agree to but there is a bigger picture at play that’s not just myself. I know that if there are some ways to help the points for Lando, I will do that”, Piastri confirmed.
️ “It’s not purely just going to be me pulling over for Lando every single race, because that’s how none of us, including Lando, want to go racing.”
Oscar Piastri’s thoughts on McLaren’s decision to prioritise Lando Norris: pic.twitter.com/FfbbI4PHQ9
— The Race (@wearetherace) September 12, 2024
Signs of team orders being deployed at McLaren have been coming since the last race in Monza, where they failed to capitalize on Red Bull and Verstappen’s miseries as Norris only finished third in the race behind his teammate.
After the race, team principal Andrea Stella mentioned that he has had discussions with the two drivers and they have mutually decided to prioritize Norris for the rest of the season.
Zak Brown also confirmed Piastri’s role in the remaining races of 2024
Up until the Italian Grand Prix, McLaren CEO, Zak Brown had been firm in his stance that the team has two number-one drivers whenever the topic of team orders came into question. While he did not confirm or deny that it was part of the drivers’ contracts, there were rumors that Piastri had a clause preventing McLaren from using him as a #2 driver.
However, during a recent appearance on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s podcast, ‘The Dale Jr. Download’ Brown confirmed that Piastri has agreed to help out Norris to chase down Verstappen in the standings.
“There’s only three drivers that have come from this far back, this time of the year to do it. But we’re going to give it everything we got. Oscar [Piastri] is going to do everything he can to help”, Brown admitted.
With a 62-point deficit that Norris has, McLaren needs to enable him to win almost every remaining race to take as many points away from Verstappen. So, orchestrating team orders to put the Briton ahead of Piastri will help reduce the Dutchman’s lead even more.
