Oscar Piastri’s team orders vow after internal McLaren discussions

Oscar Piastri has underscored his commitment to McLaren by asserting his faith in the team is more fundamental than his own desire to win the world championship.

Piastri leads the Drivers’ Championship with nine rounds remaining, his advantage over teammate Lando Norris having been eroded courtesy of team orders at the Italian Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri prioritises McLaren’s success over championship hopes

A controversial request in the latter stages in Monza saw Piastri allow Norris through into second place.

The pair had been running in that order behind Max Verstappen for much of the race, only for the Australian to nose ahead after his teammate endured a slow stop.

With the title fight effectively a straight duel between the McLaren duo, the squad’s decision to reverse the position was deemed an overstep by many.

The Woking squad has insisted on fairness between its two drivers all season, with the explanation offered to Piastri over the radio in Monza squatting it to the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix, where a similar position swap landed the Melburnian his first F1 race win.

The incident drew into focus the tightrope McLaren must walk to ensure fairness but not favouritism between its drivers.

Similarly, it created an opportunity for Piastri to draw a line in the sand – a moment where the championship battle developed an edge.

Instead, he chose not to. A week on from that decision, he remains convinced he made the right call.

“We have had very good discussions this week about what went on and what can be made clearer, what can be improved,” Piastri told ESPN.

“That’s always kind of a learning process, I guess. But yeah, ultimately I know that the team would have my best interests at heart.

“And ultimately, I want to protect that because I can’t have my own success without the team having success. So protecting that is a very important thing for me.”

Within McLaren, the focus has always been on the teams’ championship first.

It is against that which prize money is paid out, worth well over $100 million a year.

The general understanding was that the drivers were not to do anything to compromise the team’s position in the Constructors’ Championship, but with that all but wrapped up for a second success year, there is an argument to be made for Piastri, and Norris, beginning to put themselves first.

The championship leader disagrees, insisting that he not get more ‘ruthless’.

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“Not at the cost of future success,” he declared. “Definitely not.”

Piastri entered Formula 1 with McLaren after working his way through the junior formulae under the Alpine driver programme.

He was tempted across when the Enstone operation was able to find a race berth for him in F1 2022, off the back of three successive championship wins in Formula Regional, Formula 3, and Formula 2.

Such was McLaren’s interest that it absorbed a significant penalty to part ways with Daniel Ricciardo a year early – a figure thought to be around $20 million. That show of faith has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated by Piastri.

Across the garage, Norris too has demonstrated his loyalty. While opportunities to move away from the squad have presented themselves in the comparatively recent past, he’s elected to stay put with the operation that helped him rise through the ranks.

It explains why the pair are so ready and willing to accept team orders, even if that does seemingly lead to short-term pain for the individual in question. At least in the Piastri camp, he’s betting on there being a longer-term gain.

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