Nico Rosberg predicts McLaren ‘talks’ after team orders take centre stage
Oscar Piastri opted to give up second place after his team told him to let Lando Norris by.
Nico Rosberg has said McLaren “require some talks” after they told Oscar Piastri to move aside in the late stages of the Italian Grand Prix.
The Australian was punished for a mistake in which he played no part after a slow pit stop pushed Lando Norris to third in Monza and, crucially, one spot behind his championship rival.
Nico Rosberg reacts to McLaren’s team order issue at Monza
A near five-second stop for the Briton looked to have been his second piece of bad luck in as many races, but McLaren took the unusual choice of instructing Piastri to allow Norris by.
Race engineer Tom Stallard said: “Oscar, this is a bit like Hungary last year – we pitted in this order for team reasons. Please let Lando past, then you are free to race.”
To which Piastri replied: “I mean, we said that a slow pit stop was part of racing, so I don’t really get what’s changed here, but if you really want me to do it, then I’ll do it.”
He nonetheless relented and allowed Norris to pass, a move that even caught the attention of Max Verstappen, who was surprised such an order even came.
In the immediate aftermath, Piastri kept tight-lipped, but Rosberg, who knows a thing or two about intra-team battles, suggested McLaren needs to clear the air.
“Pit stop times are just a part of racing, and what goes around, comes around,” Rosberg said on Sky F1. “Sometimes one has a faster [stop] than the other.
“So it’s, it’s a really difficult one internally, and that will require some talks, because I think Oscar is not going to be happy with that.
“Of course, you look out from outside and you think ‘okay, that’s the only way to do it fair, because Lando deserves second place because he just did a much better weekend.’ But it’s not straight cuts,
Rosberg was joined on the broadcast by Jamie Chadwick who said McLaren “put themselves in these awkward positions” ,having done similar last year in Hungary.
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“It is an uncharacteristic mistake [from the pit crew] but I think if you look back to Hungary last year, they do put themselves sometimes in these awkward positions,” she said.
“It is credit to the drivers that they react the way that they do but the harmony in that team seems to be very good, despite the fact they’re going head to head for a world Championship.
“I think, from the team’s point of view, they had to make the call to do that, because I think they messed up the pit stop for Lando. He’d been quicker all weekend.
“Interestingly, Oscar was the one, technically it’s in his hands, whether he wants to do that and give the position back, which he did, and he didn’t really even speak about it after the race.”
Norris went on to finish second, scoring 18 points in the championship, with Piastri third adding 15 to his tally.
With eight races remaining, the gap between the McLaren duo now sits at 31 points.
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