McLaren have implemented new team rules for the remaining eight events of the 2024 F1 season; Lando Norris is 62 points behind Max Verstappen and McLaren want to help the British driver; watch first practice for the Azerbaijan GP at 10.30am on Friday, live on Sky Sports F1
Friday 13 September 2024 09:59, UK
McLaren have confirmed they will favour Lando Norris over team-mate Oscar Piastri on "50-50 calls" in a bid to boost the Brit's Formula 1 title charge.
With eight rounds of the 2024 season remaining, Norris has closed to within 62 points of Max Verstappen amid Red Bull's poor form, but missed the opportunity to further reduce the Dutchman's Drivers' Championship lead last time out in Monza after being hindered by his team-mate.
The McLaren pair locked out the front row but Piastri's bold first-lap pass on Norris also enabled Charles Leclerc to go through, with the Ferrari driver going on to win as the Brit finished third behind his team-mate.
In an exclusive interview on Thursday ahead of this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix - live on Sky Sports F1 - McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained how the team have decided to change their approach.
"After Monza, we took a look at the first lap with Lando and Oscar. We checked what we could have done better," Stella told Sky Sports F1.
"If you enter a chicane in the first lap P1 and P2 and exit P1 and P3, I'm not sure if we have done the interests of the team and that's our main objective and principle.
"It was a very constructive conversation. Each of us, myself included, we raised our hands and said, 'We could have done this better'.
"We put all these learnings together and this will be the foundations for the final part of the season."
Piastri is a further 44 points behind Norris in the drivers' standings and until this point, McLaren had insisted on giving the Australian equal opportunity as he attempted to mount his own unlikely championship challenge.
McLaren had also previously said they were prioritising the Constructors' Championship, in which they have closed to within eight points of Red Bull, but now appear to be clear favourites to win the team title given their consistency.
"In terms of what's changed, by looking at the standings after two-thirds of the season, we are in the quest for both the Constructors' and Drivers' Championship," Stella said.
"We acknowledged with Lando and Oscar that Lando is in the most favourable position, so if we want to give it a go, we should try and support Lando. We will do this when it's necessary.
"In those 50-50 calls, they will more naturally end up in Lando's territory and by doing so, see if we can make this quest in the Drivers' Championship even more realistic. Then we will reassess in a couple of races and see where we are."
At the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, Norris was implored by the team over radio to give the lead back to Piastri after their strategy had allowed the Brit to leapfrog his team-mate during their pit stops.
After resisting for several laps in what became a radio soap opera, Norris eventually gave in to allow Piastri to claim his maiden grand prix victory, but afterwards admitted his frustration at not being able to prioritise his championship hopes.
The most fascinating scenario McLaren could face in the remaining rounds is if Piastri is leading the race, with Norris in second place.
Norris told the media on Thursday he wouldn't want to win that way, which Stella reiterated.
"We don't want to have situations like Monza, when there's a strategy that will form more naturally at Lando's advantage," he said.
"With that situation, we want to win world championships and also in the right way. For me, the right way is looking at what our values are.
"The team interest comes first, then we also want to be sportsmanlike. Fairness to both drivers and cohesion as we move into the future is important for us.
"We definitely addressed that situation, and said, 'Would you, Lando, want to swap?' Lando said, 'I want to win on track. I don't want to win a title because it came from systematic concessions' as it would negate our values.
"F1 is very complex and scenarios never happen simply. What if Lando is a lot faster? This creates another variation of the same scenario.
"We will have good conversations over the weekend, assess the situation on Saturday evening, Sunday, and then make the calls on the pit walls. But our principles remain the same."
Both Norris and Piastri both have contracts at McLaren until at least the end of 2026 and are in their second campaign together as a driver pairing.
By prioritising Norris, McLaren run the risk of upsetting Piastri in the long term but the team are fully aware of that.
"That's definitely something we should question ourselves. This is why we had multiple conversations with the drivers," explained Stella.
"We need to make sure the plan is one that everyone thinks is fair. It's not ideal when you have two drivers that can win races and there's only one winner.
"For me, I'm very proud of Oscar and Lando because in the fact it's not ideal, they both understand now it's time to play our part."
Friday September 13
7.55am: F2 Practice
10am: Azerbaijan GP Practice One (session starts 10.30am)
11.55am: F2 Qualifying
1.45pm: Azerbaijan GP Practice Two (session starts 2pm)
3.15pm: The F1 Show
Saturday September 14
9.15am: Azerbaijan GP Practice Three (session starts 9.30am)
11.10am: F2 Sprint
12.15pm: Azerbaijan GP Qualifying build-up
1pm: AZERBAIJAN GP QUALIFYING*
3pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook
Sunday September 15
8.30am: F2 Feature Race
10:30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Azerbaijan GP build-up*
12pm: The AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX*
2pm: Chequered Flag: Azerbaijan GP reaction
3pm: Ted's Notebook
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 leaves mainland Europe for Baku and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime
