Jun.16 (GMM) A driver pecking order is just over the horizon at McLaren, according to a former Formula 1 driver.
Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko admitted to Servus TV that Lando Norris’ mistakes in qualifying and the race in Canada, including crashing into the rear of his championship-leading teammate Oscar Piastri, gives the team “hope”.
“He (Norris) messed up again,” Marko said, also noting the otherwise dominant McLaren’s off weekend in Canada.
After the crash into Piastri and DNF, Norris – now 22 points behind in the championship – called himself “stupid” on the radio.
“When I make such a complete fool of myself and let the team down like that, I can only feel remorse,” the Briton told the Spanish broadcaster DAZN.
“I’m going to make my rounds now and apologise to everyone, then I’m going to go to bed and try to forget the whole thing.”
Although many pundits and experts have been suggesting for weeks that McLaren needs to protect a single ‘number 1’ driver, the team has stuck to its principles of equality.
However, team boss Andrea Stella admitted Norris’ move on Sunday was “not acceptable”.
He added: “But it wasn’t malicious, and Lando immediately took responsibility. We still need to discuss it, but our principles are already in place.”
Interestingly, Stella had also mildly criticised Norris after qualifying, admitting he felt the 25-year-old had “overdriven the car” by “concentrating too hard on braking as late as possible”.
Regarding the crash, though, the Italian was also sanguine.
“It was never a question of if, but when it would happen,” said Stella. “It’s clear that we at McLaren don’t want that, but if Lando had a different reaction, there would certainly be serious conversations to have.
“But I think he immediately realised that he simply miscalculated, causing a problem for himself, for the team, and it was very close to causing a problem for Oscar.”
2016 world champion Nico Rosberg declared: “It’s the first time I can say that Piastri is the clear favorite for the world championship.
“He’s incredibly solid, while Norris keeps making mistakes.
“After the past two years, it’s surprising, but Piastri is now the favourite. In the new situation, where there’s so much pressure, he’s simply strong.”
Fellow former F1 driver and German, Timo Glock, thinks the time has come for McLaren to drop its driver equality policy in 2025. “The danger-zone will come at some point, because (Max) Verstappen is always there, scoring points. (George) Russell also scores points very consistently,” he told Sky Deutschland.
“That’s why McLaren must learn from last year. At some point, this team order must come. Norris made a big step towards that today.”
Stella, however, insisted that Sunday in Canada changes nothing.
“Of course we can issue team orders from the pitwall,” he said. “But that would be artificial racing. We don’t want that.
“We want to give both drivers the chance to fight for positions – among themselves, too.
“Lando will learn from today,” the McLaren boss added.
Interestingly, the cool and steady championship leader Piastri fully agrees.
“I think it was a fair, tough battle over a couple of corners, and it’s a shame to end the way we did,” the Australian told DAZN.
“I don’t think we should change anything. We’re fighting for a championship – and it was fair.”
As for McLaren’s ‘off’ weekend in Montreal, the 24-year-old added: “It hasn’t been a good weekend overall. There are a lot of things to analyze, but I’m definitely taking the points.
“You don’t always have a great weekend. We did a decent job, but there are things to analyse.”
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