By now the video clips of Lando Norris refusing to cede position to his teammate, Oscar Piastri, have gone viral. The radio messages between himself and race engineer Will Joseph have been quoted to the nth degree. The backstage camera catching Norris’s conversation with Lewis Hamilton and the fan’s dissection of the podium ceremony haven’t helped matters either.
Once again, a successful Grand Prix weekend for McLaren has ended mired in controversy after yet another strategy fumble left their drivers bereft.
Norris is the closest to Max Verstappen in the driver standings, although ‘closest’ is a misnomer; now, leaving Budapest, Norris has 189 points to rival Verstappen’s 265 points. Piastri, fifth in the standings, has 149 points. Piastri is only 5 points behind Carlos Sainz (fourth) and 13 behind Charles Leclerc (third). As McLaren continues its show of dominance, it’s possible that Piastri could catch up to Norris, and at the very least end the season in third in the driver standings.
Red Bull has slowly tumbled off the pedestal, leaving the team more vulnerable than ever. With Sergio Perez’s string of poor qualifying and race results, and Verstappen struggling with the increased downforce in the car.
McLaren’s Potential Challenge to Verstappen’s Dominance
It stands to reason then, that McLaren, whose recent upgrades have catapulted the team to a level of competition nearly rivaling Red Bull are the most likely team to be able to challenge Verstappen for driver’s championship.
Well, that would be the case if McLaren could sort out their strategy. The Hungarian Grand Prix is yet another example of how the team needs to sort things out behind the scenes.
McLaren does not have a clear 1-2 driver pairing, if only because while Piastri is younger than Lando Norris. His confidence, professionalism, and sheer driving ability have placed him on a level playing field for the position. Although, it was clear from Norris’ radio messages that he considers himself the number one driver.
Lando Norris: Strategy Missteps at the Hungarian Grand Prix
Lando Norris started the Hungarian Grand Prix in pole position but lost position to Piastri who began second on the grid, in Turn 1. Eventually, Norris returned to second after Verstappen ceded the position to him after a few laps, but by that point, Piastri had created a comfortable gap.
Piastri was leading the race when McLaren fumbled during their pit strategy in the final pit stop, choosing (after much indecision) to pit Norris first before Piastri. McLaren reasoned that the threat of a possible undercut by Hamilton was too great a risk.
At this point, Hamilton was around six seconds behind Norris, making an undercut highly unlikely. The result was Norris was handed first place on a platter by his team. Piastri was left out for two laps longer than he should have.
Team Orders and Tensions on the Track
Under team orders that were repeated with increasing levels of frustration and pleading, Norris refused to cede the place back to Piastri. To be fair to Norris, he was first told to hand the position back “at your convenience”. The messages then became much less about convenience, and more about the potential for a championship, and the team.
Lando Norris argued his case fervently, but team orders, no matter how vaguely put, aren’t a request; and the refusal to follow them wasn’t a good look, nor was the public unravelling held over team radio.
Nico Rosberg even commented on how reminiscent the situation and radio messages were of what used to happen when he and Hamilton were teammates, and famously, rivals at Mercedes.
By Lap 65, Joseph seemed to be pleading with Norris.
Joseph: “Lando, he can’t catch you up. You’ve proved your point and it really doesn’t matter.”
Norris: “He’s on much quicker tires. I mean, I would have tried to undercut anyway, if I didn’t I would have gotten …”
Joseph: “We did this stop sequence for the good of the team.”
Norris: “Yeah, and I’m fighting for this championship.”
Joseph: “I’m trying to protect you, mate. I’m trying to protect you.”
Joseph: “Lando, there are five laps to go. The way to win a championship is not by yourself. You’re going to need Oscar and you’re going to need the team.”
Lando Norris: Parallels with the Past
Eventually, Norris ceded the place to Piastri. Later, in the cooldown room, it was clear Norris was still emotional, after knocking a hat to the ground and snapping at Hamilton was just “complimenting your car”.
Piastri apologizing for his race win didn’t help the poor PR that Norris was accruing. But who is really to blame here? Is it the team’s pit strategy and not sure of data that led to Norris even being put into the position of a potential race win? Or is it Norris, for failing to follow team orders and instead clashing with his race engineer over the radio acting unprofessionally?
The answer is all of the above.
The Pit Wall’s Missteps and Driver Accountability
Yes, the problem begins and ends at the McLaren pit wall; Norris and Piastri should never have been put in the on-track positions they were in. The clear mishandling of team strategy and the obvious inability to maintain control and execute effective decision-making led to a long, drawn-out, radio battle between one of their drivers and the team itself.
But Norris carries blame, too. Sure, the level of adrenaline the drivers are operating under would make anyone struggle to remain cool, calm, and collected. But his teammate, whose even-keeled nature is one of his best attributes, has no problem dealing with similar circumstances with the maturity needed from racing drivers.
Maturity and a level of professionalism that Norris lost during this race.
Lando Norris: Lack of Professionalism and Composure
Norris’ lack of professionalism and composure is a problem; not only did it escalate the situation further, but it brought negative attention to the team and overshadowed Piastri’s maiden Grand Prix win. McLaren’s strategy faults are now under an even bigger microscope, but the McLaren PR team will have to do damage control not only for the team at large but for Norris and Joseph as well.
Later, after he had calmed down, Norris had this to say regarding the situation; “I think there’s just a difference of simply just deserving to win a race and not deserving to win. I didn’t deserve to win today, simple as that. The fact I was in that position was incorrect. I think that was a mistake from us as a team.
I shouldn’t have been in that position, I think it was a strategic way to run our race. It gave me hope and gave me that position of, ‘Oh I’m here now,’ but I shouldn’t have been there in the first place. So I’m not going to talk about it because I shouldn’t have been there, I didn’t deserve to win. End of story from that side.”
Wrapping Up
Yes, the indecision and poor pit strategy led to this issue occurring but had Norris ceded the place immediately when team orders called for it, McLaren wouldn’t be in the mess they’re in now. It should have been a weekend to celebrate with Piastri’s first Grand Prix win and McLaren’s second 1-2 finish of the past ten years, but the on-track nonsense left fans with a sour taste in their mouths.
