George Russell weighs in on not ‘acceptable or reasonable’ McLaren team orders debate

Mercedes driver George Russell does not believe it would be “acceptable or reasonable” if McLaren instigates team orders during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend.

Lando Norris leads the standings by 12 points from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, but Norris’s McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri is still holding onto title hopes of his own, sitting a further four points back.

Russell: ‘Not fair at all’ if McLaren instigates Abu Dhabi GP team orders

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has said for some time that McLaren would only choose between Norris and Piastri when one driver is mathematically out of the title race, but both drivers hold a chance of winning the championship this weekend.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has reiterated this message, too, having previously said the team’s commitment to fairness between its drivers may yet come at a cost of losing the Drivers’ title to Verstappen.

Norris knows that a podium finish would see him win a first Drivers’ title no matter where his two rivals finish, but the hypothetical scenario of Verstappen leading, with Piastri third and Norris fourth on the road was put to all three drivers, which would put the Red Bull driver in championship-winning position.

As to whether he would move over at this point, Piastri said no decision has yet been made as to whether or not he would do so.

And while Norris admitted he would “love it”, he will also not ask the team for direct assistance.

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While such a scenario appears unlikely at this stage, the possibility remains that Verstappen could yet take the title for himself after mounting a huge comeback in the final third of the season.

With both drivers standing a chance of title glory heading into the weekend, Russell does not believe McLaren should intervene, explaining the difference to when there is one car out of contention.

“I don’t think it’s acceptable or reasonable to ask a driver who’s also in a shot of a championship in the very last race to move over for your teammate,” Russell told PlanetF1.com and other media at Yas Marina.

“I think if it were, in other seasons gone by, let’s say, Checo [Perez] and Max or [Rubens] Barrichello and [Michael] Schumacher [at Ferrari], when clearly one driver is the one going for the championship, and if in the last race, the guy who doesn’t have a shot at winning the championship moves over, that is absolutely reasonable, and I think every single driver would do that.

“But for me, I don’t think it would be fair at all.

“I think they both need to be given a shot. And if they lose out because of it, you just need to say: ‘The other guy did a better job.’

“That’s racing. That’s how it should be.”

Piastri gave a wry smile when the topic of potential team orders was put to him in the second half of the pre-race press conference in Abu Dhabi, adding: “It’s not something we’ve discussed.

“Until I know what’s kind of expected, I don’t really have an answer until I know what’s expected of it.”

Piastri would need to finish in the top two on the road on Sunday to have any chance of overhauling his deficit to Norris and Verstappen, and would need results to go his way if he is able to do so.

Additional reporting by Mat Coch and Thomas Maher

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