Lando Norris has confirmed that there will be a “refresh” to McLaren’s stance on team orders, having “earned the right” to receive that “privilege” in Formula 1 in 2024.
McLaren’s ascension to becoming the benchmark team last term presented Norris with an outside chance of pipping Max Verstappen to the Drivers’ Championship.
But despite external pressure on the side to prioritise Norris over team-mate Oscar Piastri, McLaren showed an initial hesitance to put weight behind its leading hope.
That changed, though, when Piastri’s aggressive opening-lap pass on Norris at Monza contributed to McLaren squandering the race victory to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Piastri adhered to an instruction to cede a Sprint win in Brazil to Norris, but that proved to be inconsequential in the title race as Verstappen prevailed with two races to go.
Norris, who returned the deed in Qatar, has revealed that he and Piastri will start the upcoming season, which McLaren will enter as the reigning champions, on equal terms.
“[2025] is a refresh and Oscar has an opportunity to fight for a championship too,” Norris said.
“A lot of what you guys write about and talk about has been because of the championship fight, the Drivers’ Championship fight, and that’s where a lot of talk and things started.
“And I earned my right to have some of those privileges.
“I earned my right by doing a good job through the whole season, to be given that opportunity. I don’t go around asking for it.
“It’s certainly not how I want to win a championship. I want to go out and give Max a fair fight and do my part and earn it my way.
“Sometimes there’s inclusions, which is Oscar helping me on a couple of occasions.
“Everyone spoke like it was going to be every race.
“We went into Baku and it was actually the opposite way around. I did a little bit there [holding up Sergio Perez] and then Oscar helped me win in Brazil.
“Sadly, things turned for the worse on Sunday and the opportunity was gone, but I repaid it.
“So I think it’s our strength as a team. I don’t think other teams work this way.
“And it’s definitely a part of why we are where we are as a team now, why we are the top team in Formula 1, and why [we were] fighting for the win in the Constructors.”
Piastri eager to avoid McLaren orders in 2025
Piastri expressed that he had no qualms about surrendering the lead to Norris at Interlagos, though he is eager to avoid being exposed to that position again in 2025.
“To be honest, I wasn’t that disappointed with giving that up,” he admitted.
“Of course, I would have loved to have won the Sprint, but it’s a very different scenario to a grand prix.
“I think I proved what I wanted to prove in terms of qualifying on pole.
“And that was just to myself. Even if I had won the Sprint, qualifying on pole was probably the more satisfying thing for me.
“I knew I did the right thing in the Sprint, and that’s good for me. So yeah, I’m happy that we don’t have to go into those kinds of things as much anymore.
“And obviously next year, I want to make sure that I’m not in a position, championship-wise, to be subject to that.
“But in reality, I needed to help out that one time in Brazil and that’s been it. So it’s been a lot of talk, but not much on-track action.”
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