How the McLaren drivers answered difficult team orders questions after Italian GP

McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris navigated an onslaught of questions about the team orders during the closing stages of the Italian Grand Prix.

Norris, who had started the race from second behind polesitter Max Verstappen, suffered a slow pitstop on lap 47 as the front-left wheelnut failed to be tightened on the first attempt. The team pitted the Briton deliberately after his team-mate and championship rival in order to avoid Piastri, who was running behind him at the time, benefiting from an undercut. However, the slow 5.9-second pitstop resulted in exactly that.

By lap 49, Piastri had been ordered to give the place back to Norris – a move that has since been debated by many in the paddock. Norris ultimately crossed the line in second with Piastri behind him in third.

How did Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri react to McLaren’s team orders at Monza?

It came as no surprise that the team orders were a hot topic during the post-race press conference. Here is how they responded.

Tom Clarkson: Can I just ask you now about those closing laps? You had the problematic pitstop resulting in Oscar sneaking ahead, given what’s at stake in the world title fight, did you ever doubt that he’d let you through again?

Lando Norris: No, because it’s what we decided as a team, and it’s what we all agreed upon.

TC: Oscar, can I bring you in on that? Given the high-stakes game that you and Lando are playing in the world title fight, how much did you question the request to let Lando through?

Oscar Piastri: It’s something that we’ll discuss. We have discussed it before, but I think today it 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, and ultimately, that’s a very important thing going forward.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

When asked if they would still swap positions in the same situation if it was the last two or three races and the championship was still close, Norris confirmed, “Yes, because that’s what we’ve agreed as a team.”

Piastri agreed.

The Australian driver was asked if he was surprised when he got that request on the radio.

“I mean, no, not really,” he responded. “We have had discussions about all kinds of scenarios and I think when you’re in the same team, when there’s things outside a driver’s control, there’s a lot more ways you can rectify things. So it is a discussion we’ve had, I’m sure we’ll review it and discuss more, but it wasn’t a situation that hadn’t been discussed before.”

Piastri said over the team radio at the time of the request, “We said that a slow pitstop was part of racing, so I don’t know what has changed.” When asked to clarify this, he kept his response short.

“I think the radio call kind of says enough, so I’m sure we’ll discuss it again,” Piastri said.

When asked if, hypothetically, a slow pitstop dropped Piastri from P1 to P4, would Norris be expected to give the place back, even to a rival, to make it fair, Piastri explained, “I mean, I think if you can control it then you can answer. If it’s within your control and there’s no other cars involved, it’s quite simple, but obviously if there’s other cars involved we’re not going to give away all of those points to other teams for a mistake. But when there’s no cars in between, it’s much easier to rectify it. So to answer your question, if it had have been more cars in between, then no we wouldn’t have swapped back because at that point it does just become very unfortunate.”

Norris added, “I think Oscar said it well. Every situation is different, so I think it’s pretty stupid just to assume that kind of thing and say that’s the precedent. 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 that’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 so 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 it was out of my control.

“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.”

When asked if he might regret giving the place back if the championship comes down to two or three points, Piastri responded: “I wouldn’t regret it, no. I think today it was a fair decision. Lando was ahead the whole race and again it wasn’t through any fault of his own. So I think for me, that’s fine and ultimately whoever wins the championship wants to have won it as much as they can through their own performances and things that they can control and today that wasn’t one of those things.”

Photos from Italian GP – Race