McLaren has revealed it is against hailing Lando Norris as its number one driver in Formula 1, but has hinted it could favour him in certain “50/50 situations” in 2024.
Norris bolstered his title prospects this term with a commanding 22-second win over Max Verstappen at Zandvoort to reduce the Dutchman’s advantage to 70 points.
The Briton’s second career win reconsolidated his place as McLaren’s leading contender as Oscar Piastri lagged in fourth and is now 45 points behind his team-mate.
McLaren elected not to prioritise Norris’ title bid in Hungary when he was ordered to give the lead back to Piastri, but CEO Zak Brown revealed it could alter its stance.
However, Stella has denied that McLaren will now implement a clear hierarchical structure between its drivers as he believes it would disrupt the positive atmosphere.
“We always have conversations around team orders from race one because you always want to enter a race having clarity
as to how we are going to manage the internal competition between the two drivers,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week.
“So, the conversations about team orders happens throughout the season.
“But then you have to take this conversation within the context of what is, for instance, the driver’s classification.
“In general, our approach is to be fair, to have, like we say, integrity in the way we go racing.
“And I keep saying that I’ve known no driver that wants to be number one out of a contract.
“Drivers want to be number one because they are fast on track. And then when you are fast on track, definitely you want to be supported by the team when it’s a 50-50 decision.
“Or, you know, like you have eight good weekends and it’s a weekend in which you are struggling a little bit. Then the team can assist, right?
“But there’s no driver that, like, we have nine races ahead of us and we create a number one driver. And then what do we do?
“All the favours to the number one driver. This is not a healthy way of running a team.”
However, Stella has stated that the entire McLaren team – including team-mate Piastri – will be prepared to support Norris’ championship ambitions when it is needed.
“But for every race, we analyse the situations,” the Italian continued.
“And in the 50-50 situations or in those cases in which, in this case, Lando may need a bit of extra support from the team, we are going to give it.
“But the team includes Oscar. Like, the team should not do things that don’t look reasonable to Oscar. We are in this together.
“You don’t go a team and a driver and the other driver kind of follows despite him.
“He needs to be part of this conversation and he needs to be in agreement with what we think is the way forward.”
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