That was enough to allow Piastri past. However, the team instructed the championship leader to slow down and relinquish the position to Norris. It was a team mistake, not a driver mistake, and McLaren is doing everything in its power to ensure the eventual champion gets there because of their driving and not some external factor. Piastri didn’t sound exactly happy on the radio. But F1 is a team sport, and racing drivers are employees—when your boss gives you an order, it’s wise to do what they ask and argue about it after the fact, if continued employment is one of your goals.
Oscar Piastri (L) and Lando Norris (R) have a very 21st century relationship. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
For many, a slow pit stop is just one of those things bestowed by the racing gods, and even Verstappen pointed that out when informed by his engineer of the change in positions behind him. After the race, Norris seemed a little embarrassed to have been given the place back, but the emerging consensus from former drivers was that, since Norris had been asked about pit stop priority, and had been undercut anyway, that was sufficient to excuse the request.
McLaren’s approach to handling its drivers is markedly different from the all-out war we saw when Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso raced for it in 2007. Then, neither went home with the big trophy at the end of the year—their infighting allowed Kimi Raikkonen to take the title for Ferrari instead.
That won’t happen this year; either Norris or Piastri will be crowned at the end of the year, with the other having to wait at least another year. The pair have even been asked how they want the team to celebrate in the event the other driver wins—a sensitivity that feels refreshingly new for Formula 1.
Formula 1 heads to Azerbaijan in two weeks for another low-downforce race. Can we expect another Verstappen victory?