McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has explained the reasoning behind asking Oscar Piastri to wave Lando Norris past in Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix. Piastri and Norris started from the fourth row of the grid at the Circuit of The Americas after failing to challenge Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari in Q3.
Pace Difference and Team Orders
During the opening seven laps of the race, Piastri lost roughly one second per lap to race leader Kimi Antonelli, specifically 0.997 seconds on average excluding the first lap, and fell behind a struggling George Russell. Norris voiced frustration on the radio about being held up by his team-mate, prompting McLaren to instruct Piastri to let Norris through at Turn 1 on lap eight. Norris subsequently pulled away by four seconds over the next seven laps.
Andrea Stella stated that Lando Norris typically excels at the Austin track while Oscar Piastri tends to struggle more. Stella noted that Piastri’s main strength lies in building pace gradually once he establishes references, making changing conditions and sliding cars difficult for him. Conversely, Norris excels in such scenarios through his ability to adapt quickly to varying conditions.
Stella added that the team discussed prior to the race that if Norris was trailing Piastri and unable to keep pace with the leaders, they would give Norris an opportunity to attack the cars ahead.
Team Harmony and Strategy Execution
Stella emphasized that the team order demonstrated a collective focus on McLaren’s interests following a previous collision between the drivers during the Singapore sprint race. He stressed the importance of working together to help McLaren return to the front where both drivers can fight for wins.
McLaren opted for an aggressive one-stop strategy on hard tyres to challenge Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, alongside Max Verstappen on two-stop strategies. Norris held second place until lap 46 before being overtaken by those three drivers, ultimately finishing fifth after undercutting Isack Hadjar and Russell, while Piastri secured seventh place.
Stella explained that the hard tyres appeared competitive in practice and offered a chance to catch up during the second stint. He acknowledged that while a one-stop strategy opened the door for a safety car that never materialized, it was worth attempting despite the low probability of keeping Verstappen and Leclerc behind.
McLaren currently faces a four-round streak without a podium finish, marking the team’s longest such drought since the end of the 2023 season and the beginning of 2024.
