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McLaren navigating problems of its own making

Lando Norris could have been in a really bad mood on Sunday night in Monza.

Perhaps he was in one on lap 48 of the Italian Grand Prix, when he suddenly found himself behind teammate Oscar Piastri having been pretty comfortably the lead McLaren for the entire race.

Max Verstappen was miles up the road, already adding to his frustration, and now a three-point gain in the drivers’ championship was set to become a three-point loss. Until his team intervened and ordered Piastri to give up the position.

The slow pit stop that had dropped Norris behind his teammate was certainly not driver error, with a slow left front appearing to be the result of a wheel that wasn’t fully attached initially. The retirement in Zandvoort was also not driver error, and yet Norris could have lost ground on two consecutive weekends, with the second compounding the pain of a week earlier.

But McLaren is in a unique position, and with its two drivers line astern on the track, it could rectify the situation without any risk or costing the team any points.

“I think the pit stop situation is not only a matter of fairness, it’s a matter of consistency with our principles,” team principal Andrea Stella explained. “However the championship goes, what’s important is the championship runs within the principles and the racing fairness we have at McLaren. And that we have created with our drivers.

“The situation whereby we swap our drivers is not only related to the pit stop, it’s also related to the fact that we wanted to sequence the two cars and stop Oscar first and then Lando. This should not have led to a swap of position. It was just done because we were covering [Charles] Leclerc, and at the same time we were waiting until the last possible moment to see if there was a red flag or a safety car.

“So we pursued the team interest to capitalize as much as possible, and in the team interests we had to go first with Oscar and then with Lando. But the clear intent was this is not going to deliver a swap of positions.

“The fact that we went first with Oscar, compounded by the slow pit stop with Lando, led to a swap of positions. And we thought it was absolutely the right thing to go back to the situation pre-existing the pitstop and then let the guys race. This is what we did and this is what we think is compliant with our principles.”

It was not a surprise when McLaren asked for the positions to be swapped, and nor was it a surprise to hear Piastri question the call initially – suggesting a slow pit stop had been agreed between the drivers already as “a part of racing” – but then agree to the request.

The fact that the change of position happened, like in Hungary last year, shows how the drivers have bought into the culture Stella has cultivated, even if on this occasion Piastri wasn’t convinced by the reasoning.

“It’s something that we’ll discuss,” Piastri said after the race. “We have discussed it before. I think today was a fair request. Lando qualified ahead, was ahead the whole race, and lost that spot through no fault of his own.

“I said what I had to say on the radio. And once I got the second request, then I’m not going to go against the team. I think there’s a lot of people to protect and a culture to protect outside of just Lando and I. Ultimately that’s a very important thing going forward.”

While both drivers are satisfied with the team’s approach, things got a little testy when today’s decision became the focus of the questions they got from the media. Steven Tee/Getty Images

Piastri’s response was telling, in that he clearly believed the previously agreed approach wasn’t followed, even if he felt it was a fair swap when looked at objectively. After saying he wasn’t surprised to get a call, when asked about his comments on the radio and if he expected to be allowed to stay ahead, he replied: “I think the radio call kind of says enough. I’m sure we’ll discuss it again.”

There was a difference of opinion from Norris, however, who stated his belief that the request was in line with previous talks, and that he never doubted Piastri would move aside.

“No [doubts], because it’s what we decided as a team, and it’s what we all agreed upon,” Norris said.

There was a touch of needle in some of Norris’ answers, because questions over whether McLaren did the right thing could be seen as a belittling of the fact he had earned his prior position ahead of Piastri. And because, as it played out, there can be no question that it was the most sporting thing to do.

It’s an admirable approach from McLaren to try and keep matters as fair as possible, but in doing so it does open itself up for further issues down the line. Should a similar incident occur that includes another car in between the two McLarens, for example, then a swap would not be initiated.

Similarly, had a red flag come out after Piastri’s pit stop, Norris would have been extremely well-placed to win the race with Piastri third, solely because Piastri was brought in first, exposing him to such an unfortunate scenario. Convention usually dictates the lead car pits first, but there are occasions it can be beneficial not to.

As those examples show, any approach will always be imperfect. But both drivers insist they are comfortable with that situation as it stands.

“I think if it’s within your control and there’s no other cars involved, it’s quite simple,” Piastri said. “But if there’s other cars involved, we’re not going to give away all of those points to other teams for a mistake. When there’s no cars in between, it’s much easier to rectify it.

“So to answer your question, if there had been more cars in between, then no, we wouldn’t have swapped back because at that point it does just become very unfortunate.”

Norris was almost offended by any suggestion that team points would be sacrificed to try and balance matters between the drivers, but it does highlight where a line has to be a drawn that could still hurt one over the other in the remaining eight races.

“Every situation is different, so it’s pretty stupid just to assume that kind of thing and say that’s the precedent you set,” Norris said. “We’re not idiots and we have plans for different things. If there were four cars in between me and Oscar, of course he’s not going to let me back past, and I don’t think it’s correct that he let me back past.

“But in a situation where we weren’t racing, in a situation where we can just be fair, then you’d expect to be fair, as a team. They don’t want to be the reason to upset one driver or another through no fault of their own.

“Today was not my fault. If I came flat-out into my box and I hit all my mechanics out the way, I also don’t expect to get the position back, but today was out of my control. In the end, I don’t want to win this way through getting given positions or anything like that. And the same thing with Oscar – we don’t want to lose or win like that.

“But we do what we think is correct as a team, no matter what you say or what your opinions are, and we stick to doing it our way.”

In Monza, it was the right call to address the balance on track that had not been earned or lost by either driver themselves. And what McLaren is attempting to do in giving both equal opportunities should be applauded. But with each additional call, a layer of complexity is added that eventually could lead to a decision being viewed as influencing the outcome one way or another.

The idea that misfortune balances itself out over the course of a season is fanciful, but when the team is committed to trying to do that balancing itself, then the few times that it is unable to do so can become even more impactful. In Monza, the right call was made. But as the title race moves towards its highest pressure points, McLaren will hope it is not faced with too many more scenarios where it feels the need to intervene.