McLaren has been heavily criticized for not prioritizing Lando Norris’ drivers’ championship pursuit for a large part of this season. The Woking team believed that Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri should have been given a clean opportunity to fight for wins — and it hurt them.
Jenson Button, a former McLaren man, admitted that he wasn’t a huge fan of team orders, being an F1 driver. However, he couldn’t deny that at times, they were necessary.
“At some point, if you want to win a World Championship, you need to favor one driver,” Button said in the Sky Sports podcast.
Several times this season, the McLaren teammates going wheel to wheel lost some crucial points for the team — Norris in particular. In Monza, Piastri being allowed to race Norris dropped him from P1 to P3. Plus in Hungary, the Briton was asked to slow down for his teammate in the closing stages which handed the Aussie his first Grand Prix win.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Lando Norris said he wants “to win in a deserving way” and doesn’t want to win the #F1 championship as a result of McLaren team orders ❌
Should team orders be banned in Formula 1? pic.twitter.com/Ogp8D1fepc
— Crash.net – Formula 1 (@CRASH_NET_F1) October 10, 2024
It affected Norris’ chances of closing the gap with Max Verstappen, who is ahead of him in the drivers’ standings. With six races to go, he currently sits 52 points behind the Dutchman. However, the deficit could have been even smaller had Norris won the two aforementioned races.
Button suggested that McLaren should heavily impose team orders at this stage of the season. “Every single point counts,” the Briton added. “For Lando, if he has any opportunity of becoming a World Champion… he needs every single point.”
As for Piastri, the Aussie doesn’t wish to lose out on race wins just to help his teammate. He feels him winning ahead of Norris will only help McLaren win the constructors’ championship. However, the 23-year-old is willing to help Norris if the team asks him to do so.
Piastri in a tricky position
Button spelled out what Piastri has to do in the remaining six races of the campaign. He stated that McLaren should do whatever it takes, even if it means “Using Oscar to grab the fastest lap if Max [Verstappen] has it.”
Button acknowledged that for Piastri, it would be a tricky situation to be in. However, for Norris to become McLaren’s first world champion since 2008, “its gotta happen”.
Piastri, meanwhile, has already declared his intention to support Norris’ title pursuit. As a result, Norris won’t face any resistance on that front, and his teammate is likely to let him fight at the front without putting up much of a struggle.
However, Norris cannot afford to be complacent about his driving; a single slip-up could be disastrous for his maiden title hopes.
