Lando Norris was a man on a mission at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. After a bad getaway, the Brit fought hard to get back into the podium places as the race settled down. At one point of time, it was a straight on-track battle between Norris and his rookie teammate, Oscar Piastri. But the problem was that Norris was the one actually chasing down the Australian for P2. Naturally, the 23-year-old was driving the wheels off of his MCL60 to get past Piastri. However, as the race reached its climax, a fast-charging George Russell triggered McLaren to send team orders Norris’ way. He was asked to hold position and not attack his teammate. This certainly surprised Piastri as per Motorsportweek.com.
After his own first-lap misery where his teammate Lewis Hamilton collided with him, George Russell was forced into a recovery drive. But he sliced his way through the field and all the way up to 4th. That is when Mercedes slapped a set of softs on the Brit and he was charging towards the McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri to steal a podium spot away.
#McLaren say they want to avoid the need for imposing any more team orders, after again intervening between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵
“It may happen again in the future, but when it is avoidable, we should avoid it…”#F1 #Formula1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/vLUzrs1Xo1
— McLaren F1 News 🏴🇦🇺 (@TheMcLarenZone) October 2, 2023
The Woking-based outfit couldn’t afford to let the teammates squabble and lose time to Russell. In fact, the lone Silver Arrow was riding on his tire delta and was fast enough to eventually catch up to the McLarens. Naturally, the Papaya team deemed it fit to issue team orders to secure a double podium at the Lusail International Circuit.
Oscar Piastri was left surprised after Lando Norris team orders
Piastri has been driving fantastically in his rookie year in F1. However, it was to the surprise of the Aussie that his team were actually going to ask the de facto team leader, Norris to hold his horses and let Piastri secure 2nd place in the race.
He was quoted as revealing, “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.”
TWO LAPS TO GO!
Leader Verstappen is four seconds ahead of Piastri, with Norris just 1.5 seconds further back 😮#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/pDmimJ4C1t
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 8, 2023
While it ended well for McLaren as they secured a deserved double podium, an interesting yet fatal dynamic seems to be developing between the teammates.
Do McLaren have a problem on their hands with Piastri and Norris?
Yesterday was the first time that Piastri actually beat Norris. No doubt, the Australian has been matching Norris toe-to-toe this season. However, during the race today he proved that he could be a match and better for his more experienced teammate. But are the gloves going to come off at McLaren as Norris feels like a wounded tiger?
Currently, the team are pushing to catch the Bulls and Max Verstappen. But 2024 seems like the year when they will at least get back to winning ways. Now, if fighting for a podium can get this feisty, with a win on the line every weekend, things could go ugly between the pair of Norris and Piastri as they fight for the same piece of tarmac.
McLaren should be well prepared for that eventuality, though. Back in 2007, a young rookie called Lewis Hamilton pulled similar antics over his 2x champion teammate Fernando Alonso. We know how acrimonious that got. Well, looks like it’s a rich man’s problem repeating at McLaren after all!
