McLaren’s Dilemma: Toto Wolff Urges Team Orders in Favour of Lando Norris Amid F1 Title Battle

Toto Wolff: McLaren might want to prioritize Lando Norris with team orders

The head of Mercedes shares his opinion on McLaren's team orders discussion

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has indicated that McLaren may need to make a tough decision regarding team orders as the F1 championship battle nears its end.

McLaren seemed poised to take full advantage of Max Verstappen's challenging weekend by securing the top two spots on the Italian Grand Prix starting grid. However, despite Lando Norris starting in pole position, he dropped from first to third place during the opening lap following a tussle with his teammate, Oscar Piastri.

Piastri overtook his teammate with a bold maneuver on the outside of the Della Roggia chicane, and then Norris lost yet another spot to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the next turn.

Norris secured a third-place finish, trailing Piastri and Leclerc, and reduced Verstappen's lead in the drivers' championship to 62 points with eight races left, as the Dutchman managed only a sixth-place finish.

Wolff expressed that as a leading racing team, McLaren faces a challenging situation. He noted that while they are competitive racers, similar to his own team, they find themselves in a difficult position. Wolff's comments came in response to a question about his reaction to McLaren permitting their drivers to compete against each other.

"We aim to ensure that the most deserving individual prevails, but when the situation starts to deteriorate and negatively affect the team's performance, how should we respond to that?"

The team consistently faces defeat because enforcing fixed positions and team orders goes against our racing spirit, even though it might be the more logical approach.

"In the end, you don't want to miss out on winning a championship by just a few points that you could have easily gained. Balancing that fine line is extremely challenging, and there's no single right way to manage it."

Wolff suggested that McLaren team boss Andrea Stella might need to reevaluate their 'Papaya Rules' and consider shifting from his "racer's soul" strategy.

"There are no two people with a better grasp of sports than Andrea Stella and Zak Brown," Wolff commented. "Andrea, in particular, has witnessed numerous situations unfold firsthand during his time at Ferrari."

"He possesses a racer's spirit that resists intervening and prefers to let them compete freely. However, I believe a decision will be made post-race regarding our approach to this situation."

"This was the point at which we began implementing guidelines for engagement and later updated the terminology to 'racing intent' since the word 'rules' seemed too strict for the drivers."

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