McLaren’s ‘fairness’ call keeps Norris ahead of Piastri

McLaren’s fairness team orders at the Italian Grand Prix keep Lando Norris ahead of Oscar Piastri at Monza

MONZA, Italy — Max Verstappen disappeared up the road for another Italian Grand Prix win, but the story behind him was McLaren’s delicate, deliberate decision to put Lando Norris back ahead of Oscar Piastri in the name of “fairness.” In a tightly contested Formula 1 title fight, the McLaren team orders at Monza became the focal point of the race narrative.

Team orders triggered by pit stop strategy

Late pit stops triggered the flashpoint. McLaren, the reigning and runaway constructors’ champions, kept both cars out long to cover a potential Safety Car — a classic F1 pit stop strategy at Monza. Unusually, the second car, Piastri, stopped first and got a slick 1.9s service; Norris’ stop a lap later was roughly four seconds slower, dropping him behind his teammate and title rival. Moments later came the order: swap them back, a clear example of Italian Grand Prix team orders shaping the result.

Piastri complied, but not without a radio reminder of the pre-race ground rules. “We said a slow pit-stop was part of racing,” he said. “I don’t really see what’s changed here. But if you want me to do it, I’ll do it.”

Norris reclaimed second, trimming his deficit to Piastri to 31 points instead of seeing it grow to 37 — a six-point swing that could loom large with eight rounds left in the F1 championship. Verstappen, listening in from the lead, couldn’t resist: “Ha! Just because he [Norris] had a slow stop?” Later, asked how he’d handle such a call, he deadpanned, “It’s better not to talk about it.”

McLaren’s fairness policy

McLaren insists the swap simply restored the running order that existed before a team-triggered shuffle. Team principal Andrea Stella framed it as protecting the culture the team has built around two equal title contenders — a cornerstone of McLaren’s fairness policy and “papaya rules” approach. “However the championship goes, what’s important is that the championship runs within the principles and the racing fairness we have at McLaren, and that we have created with our drivers,” he said.

Piastri backed that stance post-race. “I think today was a fair request,” he said. “Lando qualified ahead, was ahead the whole race and lost that spot through no fault of his own… there’s a lot of people to protect and a culture to protect outside of just Lando and ultimately that’s a very important thing going forward.”

Testing the limits of ‘papaya rules’

The policy, though, is getting harder to police. McLaren’s “papaya rules” have already been tested — from last year’s Hungary order that helped deliver Piastri’s breakout win to a dicey Monza start 12 months ago when interpretations differed. Piastri’s denied request to reverse an order after a British GP penalty underscored how murky “fair” can be in real time, fueling the broader Formula 1 team orders debate.

Rival boss Toto Wolff, who once refereed Hamilton vs. Rosberg, saw the risk in McLaren’s stance. “There is no right and there is no wrong. And I’m curious to see how that ends up. You set a precedent that is very difficult to undo,” he said.

Norris and Piastri on constructors’ stakes

Norris stressed the team isn’t naïve about edge cases, especially with constructors’ championship points at stake. “We’re not idiots, we have plans for different things,” he said, noting that they wouldn’t sacrifice points if rivals sat between the McLarens. Piastri echoed that: if traffic complicates a reversal, “we’re not going to give away all of those points to other teams for a mistake.”

Looking ahead

McLaren will review Monza before Baku but doesn’t expect a policy pivot — more a refinement. The aim is noble, and Sunday showed both drivers are still willing participants. The question is whether “fairness” remains clear enough, and quick enough, to administer when the stakes peak and the margins shrink in the closing stages of the F1 title race.

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