McLaren CEO Reveals Plans for Team Orders Between Norris and

McLaren CEO Reveals Plans for Team Orders Between Norris and Piastri in……read more

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has outlined his strategy for team orders between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the 2025 Formula 1 season. In 2024, McLaren found themselves in an intense battle against Red Bull for the championship, with Norris emerging as a serious contender for the drivers’ title. He fought hard against Max Verstappen, pushing the defending champion until the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where Verstappen secured his fourth consecutive title. Despite Norris missing out on the drivers’ trophy, McLaren claimed their first constructors’ championship since 1998, thanks to a spectacular victory by Norris at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

While 2024 marked McLaren’s most successful season in over two decades, it wasn’t without internal challenges. The evenly matched pairing of Norris and Piastri led to tensions, especially when the Australian driver claimed an important victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The team’s lack of a clear number-one driver raised questions about whether McLaren should implement team orders to improve their chances in the title race. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was frequently asked whether they would introduce team orders to help focus their efforts on one driver.

Brown has now revealed his approach for 2025, indicating that while there were no explicit team orders in 2024, he has plans for a more structured hierarchy in the future. He praised Norris for his role in securing the constructors’ championship in Abu Dhabi, highlighting the pressure the team faced in the season’s final race. “That was the worst two hours of my life, by far,” Brown recalled after the race. “Lando drove brilliantly, unfortunate what happened to Oscar at the start, but the team was flawless. They executed the pit stop great, and I think I was the only one who was ready to have a heart attack for two hours. That race, Lando carried us. To not make any mistakes, we were worried about safety cars, I was worried about everything. But he drove flawlessly.”

Looking ahead to 2025, Brown expressed a desire for McLaren to repeat their success in the constructors’ championship while also targeting the drivers’ title. However, he made it clear that the decision regarding which driver would lead the charge for the title would be left to Norris and Piastri. “Next, we’ll try and repeat the constructors’ and get the drivers’, I’ll let Oscar and Lando figure that one out,” Brown added.

This approach suggests that McLaren will continue to let their drivers race freely in 2025, without imposing strict team orders. However, it also hints that Brown is willing to allow the internal dynamics between Norris and Piastri to unfold naturally as they strive for the championship.