The Formula 1 grid may have moved on to this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, but the Hungarian Grand Prix remains on everyone’s mind. Particularly the one-two finish from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, and how the latter handled team orders from McLaren to allow Piastri to retake the lead in the closing stages, passing up his shot at a second Grand Prix win for Piastri’s maiden victory.
That moment was a topic of discussion during Thursday’s FIA Press Conference, and Norris received backing from two of his former McLaren teammates: Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz Jr.
Ricciardo was asked about the situation and talked about how Norris’ eventual decision to let Piastri retake the lead avoided a fracture in the team dynamic.
“If in that case, obviously we’re talking about Lando and Oscar here, in the case of Lando staying in front, then it fractures the relationship not only with the team but then with your team mate,” began Ricciardo.
“There’s not three races to go, there is still half a season to go. So I just think with that and looking ahead at the rest of the season, there will be times where Lando might need to lean on Oscar. And if you fracture that still with a half a season to go, I think that’s where it becomes difficult,” continued the Australian driver.
“Maybe me as a young kid in Formula 1 would have thought very different about this. But I think with age and a little bit of experience and wisdom, I think this is the way you have to look at it.”
Ricciardo also praised McLaren Race Engineer Will Joseph, who was the team member on the radio with Norris talking him through the decision last Sunday.
“The advice he was given was also, I think, good, because in the heat of the moment you don’t kind of see it all, so to speak. It’s like you see a win in front of you and that’s it,” described Ricciardo.
“But they’re talking about championship and ‘we win as a team’ and ‘you might need Oscar’s help’ and all that. And I think that’s kind of the perspective sometimes you need, I guess, in the heat of the moment.
“It’s a team game and you do need the team to help you, and there will be times where, again, it comes around and it’ll work in his favour. So as much as you don’t want to hear it, of course, at times and we’re all here to win, I think long-term play it’s definitely the smartest one.”
Joseph came under some criticism with how he handled the discussion, including from former McLaren driver David Coulthard. During the broadcast on F1TV on Sunday Coulthard described some of the messages from Joseph as almost “unprofessional.”
As for Sainz, he noted that giving up a win is difficult but a “team order always comes first,” as tough as it might be for an individual driver.
“We were not fighting for easy one-twos at my time in McLaren but a team order is a team order and I think the team always comes first,” said Sainz. “It’s been the way I’ve approached my Formula 1 career over these last 19 years. A team order, as much as it hurts, and it must have hurt to do let Oscar by, it’s a team order.
“Analysing the situation, if they give you an undercut for free on your team mate, most likely you need to let your team mate by because if not, you wouldn’t be in front of him if it wasn’t for that undercut.”
Sainz also offered some criticism for the media, for what he views as unfair analysis of how the team has performed this season. While McLaren sits second in the F1 Constructors’ Championship standings, many in the media have argued that different decisions from the team could have resulted in more points throughout the season.
“If you see where McLaren were a year and a half ago and where they are right now, it’s something to admire and something that only they have achieved with the way that they’ve developed the car, developed the team and put themselves in a position to even be considering fighting for a championship,” said Sainz.
“Whether they will win it or not by seven points, those seven points might be somewhere else, not only in the event of Hungary. It might be because they started the season further behind maybe than what they wanted, and not in that exact race from Hungary.
“Personally I admire a lot [team principal] Andrea Stella, the way that he’s handling the team, the way he’s handling every situation, how calm everything looks at McLaren, even if you guys are pushing them to fight for bigger things,” concluded Sainz. “I think they are on the right trend and right now they’re the strongest team in Formula 1 so hats off to them.”
To that point, it is critically important to remember just how far the Woking-based squad has come in a calendar year. When last season began in Bahrain Norris and Piastri finished at the back of the field. Ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix a year ago Norris told me that they were simply fighting for points. The year ended with them fighting for podiums, but McLaren CEO Zak Brown told me that a title fight in 2024 was probably too optimistic.
Now they are fighting for wins, and they are in that title fight.
