McLaren refocuses on Constructors' title: towards the end of team orders for Piastri?

Max Verstappen may have sounded the end of hopes for Lando Norris in the Drivers' Championship. Winner at Interlagos after an incredible comeback from 17th place on the grid, the Dutchman disgusted the competition on Sunday, and in particular his British opponent, only 6th at the finish despite starting from pole position. In the rain of São Paulo, the Englishman and his team got tangled up, making a series of driving and strategy errors, trapped by a red flag that saved Max Verstappen and the two Alpine in the front.

The accounting situation in the Drivers' Championship is therefore very gloomy for Lando Norris, who now finds himself 62 points behind Max Verstappen in the standings. The driver Red Bull will even have a first chance to win the title at the next meeting in Las Vegas (November 21-23) if he does not concede more than two points to his British rival. With three Grands Prix left in the season, it will take one – or rather several – miracles for the Englishman to win the world crown.

With such tiny hopes, McLaren Will she change her strategy regarding her two drivers? After the Brazilian Grand Prix, Andrea Stella reaffirmed that "The constructors' championship has always been [their] priority, so it doesn't change anything." « Mathematically we are still in the [Drivers] championship, but I think for Lando and for Oscar we will go to the next races trying to win them," adds the Italian leader.

Should we understand, in this statement, thatOscar piastri could be freed from team orders for the last three rounds of the season? The Australian had to "sacrifice" himself twice again this weekend at Interlagos, first by giving up victory in the Sprint race to Lando Norris, then by kindly letting his teammate pass during the Grand Prix, after the Briton made a mistake during the restart after the last Safety Car.

Piastri and Norris equals?

In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren is in a much more advantageous position since the Woking team leads the way with a 36-point lead over Ferrari and 49 points ahead of Red Bull. However, this lead is still fragile and the team with eight Constructors' titles will have to secure big points in the next rounds to hope to win a first world crown since 1998. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could then find themselves on an equal footing for the last three Grands Prix of this 2024 campaign, depending on the situation. The Australian had notably shown some good things last year in Qatar, winning the Sprint (with pole) and finishing 2nd in the Grand Prix.

For Lando Norris, even if the title race is not over, this failure in São Paulo is a huge blow. He who had a golden opportunity to come back to about twenty points behind Max Verstappen in the championship missed the boat and finds himself even further behind his Dutch rival. Overall, McLaren's Sunday afternoon was not good: neither Lando Norris nor Oscar Piastri showed a very interesting pace in the rain, far from the winner's times. For Andrea Stella, the performance of his two drivers at the Brazilian Grand Prix is ​​not to be questioned, despite the defeat against Red Bull and Max Verstappen.

“When we lock the tyres with a car like today, I don’t point the finger at the driver. I look at why the car continues to lock the front tyres in conditions like this. I don’t think the pressure [of the championship] was a significant factor, he assures, in reference to Lando Norris' mistakes in the race. We struggled with lock-ups throughout the weekend in wet conditions with both drivers and I think from a car perspective that's also something we need to look at.

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