McLaren driver Lando Norris has made conflicting statements about the use of team orders suggesting he himself is in two minds over their use.
The 24-year-old sits second in the drivers’ championship, 62 points behind Max Verstappen with eight races remaining.
With McLaren’s upturn in performance and Red Bull Racing’s comparative struggles in recent races, Norris has a realistic shot at becoming world champion.
While mathematically possible, it’s a significant deficit to claw back.
For that reason, there have been calls for McLaren to introduce team orders to aid Norris’ chances.
In Italy last weekend it was revealed that the squad operates to ‘Papaya Rules’, essentially an agreement between the drivers not to crash into each other while being otherwise free to race.
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That saw Oscar Piastri surge by Norris into the second chicane on the opening lap in Sunday’s race.
The move wrongfooted Norris which opened the door for Charles Leclerc to follow Piastri through, demoting the pole sitter to third.
While on the surface it was nothing more than a racing pass, it highlighted the individual agendas the McLaren duo are currently operating to.
Had Piastri remained in second and protected Norris, there was a much greater probability that the Brit would have won the race – which would have netted him a further 10 points over Verstappen.
Instead, Norris was third and reduced the gap by only eight.
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“He helps me. But I’m not here just to beg for someone to let me pass,” Norris said on the topic of team orders after the Italian GP.
“That’s not why I’m here. I’m here to race.
“He drove a better race than me, so I finished third, and that’s where I deserved to finish.”
But while reluctant to accept them, Norris went on to admit that he’d like the help.
“I mean, I would love it, but it’s not what… It’s not up to me,” he said.
“It’s tough, because obviously I think as any driver, you don’t want it. You don’t want things to just be played that way.”
Piastri remains technically remains in contention for the title too, though at 106 points back from the top of the standings, he faces a far greater challenge with just eight races remaining.
Of those, three are Sprint events, which come with another eight potential points. It leaves a total of 232 points on offer.
Norris needs to outscore Verstappen by, on average, just under eight points (7.75) at every event for the balance of the year.
“I wouldn’t say we’re running out of time, but time is going away slowly, and I still believe I still believe we can do it,” Norris said.
“The pace is obviously great. I still believe we’re probably close to, if not the best car again [in Monza].
“I don’t know, it’s not for me to decide, it’s for the team.
“We’re still working together well. We’re still helping one another.
“That showed plenty of times this year that we’re working together very well as a team and we’re performing as the best team out on the grid and we’re very happy with that.
“But yeah, I don’t know… When you’re fighting for a championship, you want every little thing and I’m doing everything I can.
“The best way simply is just to win the race. And I didn’t do that [in Monza] because of some silly things.”
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