Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff Urges McLaren to Implement Team Orders for Lando Norris as F1 Title Race Heats Up

Toto Wolff suggests McLaren prioritize Lando Norris through team orders

Mercedes chief comments on McLaren's internal team orders discussion

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

McLaren seemed set to take full advantage of a tough weekend for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by securing the top two spots on the Italian Grand Prix starting grid. However, pole position holder Lando Norris 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. Shortly after, Norris dropped another spot to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the next turn.

Norris secured a third-place finish, trailing behind Piastri and Leclerc, and managed to reduce Verstappen's lead in the drivers' championship to 62 points with eight races left. Verstappen, on the other hand, ended up in sixth place.

Toto Wolff commented on the challenging position a front-running racing team finds itself in. When questioned about his surprise at McLaren letting their drivers compete against each other, he explained, "As a team competing at the forefront, you face a dilemma. On one end, they are racers just like us."

“We aim to ensure that the most deserving person succeeds, but when the situation turns counterproductive and affects the team’s effectiveness, how should you respond to that?”

"The team often ends up losing because when you lock in positions and impose team orders, it might not align with our racing spirit. However, logic and reason need to take precedence."

"In the end, you don’t want to miss out on winning a championship by just a few points that were within your grasp. Balancing this is incredibly challenging and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to managing it."

Wolff suggested that McLaren's team leader, Andrea Stella, might need to reconsider their ‘Papaya Rules’ and abandon his current “racers’ soul” strategy.

Toto Wolff commented, “When it comes to understanding sports, no one does it better than Andrea Stella and Zak Brown. Andrea, in particular, has witnessed numerous developments firsthand during his time at Ferrari.”

"He possesses the competitive spirit that resists intervening and prefers to let them compete freely, but I believe they'll reach a decision after this race… what's our approach to managing this?"

"This is the point at which we began implementing guidelines for engagement, later altering the term to 'racing intent' since 'rules' seemed too strict for the drivers."

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