**Toto Wolff Urges McLaren to Embrace Team Orders for Lando Norris Amid Intense F1 Title Battle**

Toto Wolff believes McLaren should prioritize Lando Norris through team orders

The head of Mercedes shares his opinion on the discussion about McLaren's team strategies

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

McLaren seemed poised to take full advantage of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen having a rough weekend by securing the top two spots on the starting grid for the Italian Grand Prix. However, Lando Norris, who had clinched pole position, fell from first to third during the opening lap following a tussle with his teammate, Oscar Piastri.

Piastri overtook his teammate with a bold maneuver on the outer side of the Della Roggia chicane, and shortly after, Norris was passed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the next turn.

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

When asked if he was surprised by McLaren's decision to let their drivers compete against each other, Wolff explained, "As a team that is now fighting at the front, you find yourself in a tough position. On one hand, they are racers just like we are."

"Our goal is to ensure that the most deserving individual prevails, but when the situation turns chaotic and starts affecting the team's effectiveness, what steps do you take in response?"

"The team consistently ends up losing because when you lock in positions and implement team orders, it might go against our racing spirit. However, it's essential for the logical approach to take precedence."

"In the end, you don’t want to miss winning a championship by just three or five points that you could have easily secured. Balancing this is incredibly challenging, and there’s no single right way to approach it."

Wolff suggested that McLaren's team leader, Andrea Stella, might need to reconsider their 'Papaya Rules' and shift from his "racers' soul" strategy.

"There is no one with a deeper understanding of sports than Andrea Stella and Zak Brown," Wolff commented. "Andrea, especially, has witnessed everything unfold right before him during his time at Ferrari."

"He possesses the competitive spirit that hesitates to interfere and prefers to allow the racers to compete freely. However, I believe a decision will be made regarding this issue after the race… What is our approach to this situation?"

"At this point, we began to outline the guidelines for engagement and later altered the terminology to 'racing intent' since the term 'rules' seemed too stringent for the drivers."

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