McLaren’s lead driver Lando Norris said that he and Oscar Piastri are free to fight for a win if they are presented with an opportunity but within the boundaries set by the team.
With the McLaren MCL39 proving to be significantly quicker than Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari for the second season, Norris and Piastri may have a little battle of their own.
When Piastri first joined the team, naturally, he butted heads with Norris trying to see who is a faster driver. But team CEO Zak Brown had to draw the line and tell both of their drivers to learn their place.
That gave Norris the senior team role, with Piastri playing a more supportive one. But with a car that quick, both drivers have the ability to win races, like last season, Norris explained.
“There are clear rules that we cannot cross. Both cars will always have to stay in the race and that sort of thing. We’re both competitors, that's clear. We both want to fight for a win and fight for a victory which is also clear.
“But there are boundaries around the car so its just a little bit more space here and there but we’re free to race and try and win races. But what won us the Constructors last year was how we helped one another out, kept things clean and there was order when there needed to be,” Norris said.
Piastri said: “We’re free to race each other. I obviously want to win as much as Lando does. I think he summed it up quite well. In any team, not just McLaren, obviously the number 1 rules is not to have any contact and give each other space.
“If there’s an opportunity for either of us to take advantage then we will but ultimately, we are racing for the team which is more important for us,” Piastri said.
At the beginning of last season, Norris and Piastri’s competitive nature put McLaren and Brown in a tough spot, forcing them to pick a lead driver. Brown was adamant on having two drivers that were going for the win, but that led to some unnecessary contact during races. Brown was eventually forced to make a decision to put Norris as senior driver.
The two McLaren drivers touched cars during last year’s Italian Grand Prix after Piastri finished deep into the first chicane, and ended up making contact with Norris.
McLaren team Principal Andrea Stella said at the time that it was unacceptable for two McLaren’s to make contact during a race, which went against their ethos. Stella said the contact was a result of some “misjudgement” on the part of Norris, who tried to keep his position.
“There should never ever be contact between two McLaren cars. There was contact, which doesn’t fit the way we go racing at McLaren.
“You just review things, like you do with anything that is technical or the rational racing,” he explained. “What is important is to have a clear perimeter as to what you deem acceptable, and what you deem unacceptable.
“It’s not an emotional thing. It’s just like you deal with other things, you deal with racing in a similar way. And this is very clear that for any driver, there’s something bigger than them. It’s the team,” Stella said.
