Within Formula One teams, you always have 2 drivers, one being the favourite driver and getting the priority over the other. For example, within RedBull, Max Verstappen will get priority over Sergio Perez when it comes down to closely winning a race. Teams don’t want their drivers to have to “battle” each other risking both cars to get damaged. However, McLaren has a different idea. They have said from the moment that Oscar Piastri joined them, that both drivers could go for the championship and that they could take the battle against each other seriously.
McLaren Helps Lando Norris Win The Driver Championship
In the week before the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, McLaren announced that they were now prioritizing Lando Norris to win his first world title. There are multiple reasons why they chose Lando over Oscar Piastri. One of the biggest reasons is the driver standings, Lando Norris is only 68 points away from Max Verstappen, while Oscar Piasrti is still over 100 points away from him. Another reason is that Lando Norris has been out-qualifying his teammate by a small margin and has taken multiple pole positions.
The team discussed this with both drivers who, according to the McLaren team, knew what they had to do. The first race this new strategy would be used was going to be the Italian Grand Prix in Monza
Oscar Piastri Doesn’t Agree
However, if you have watched the Monza race or its highlights, you will know that Oscar Piastri took the lead from Lando Norris in the first corner. This messed up Lando’s racing speed which dropped him back to 4th place. Oscar drove off to lead the race.
Charles Leclerc was able to win the race because of a questionable strategy from McLaren. Oscar Piastri was second with Lando Norris coming in third. This wasn’t the race that McLaren was hoping for! Monza is one of the easiest tracks to stay in the lead and they had a front-row start for both their cars!
