McLaren hit with 'pathetic' broadside over team orders stance

Jacques Villeneuve has branded McLaren "pathetic" and questioned whether the team "really want to win" this year's F1 drivers' title given its team orders stance with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Following the 'papaya rules' furore that kicked off during and after the recent Italian Grand Prix, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella conducted a meeting with both drivers to clarify the situation moving forward.

Piastri is to support Norris in his bid to close the 62-point gap on Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the top of the drivers' standings, although will not be handing over any potential victories to Norris should the opportunity arise.

Suggested to Villeneuve on Sky Sports F1 that McLaren should be adopting a 'whatever it takes to win' philosophy, the 1997 F1 champion typically pulled no punches.

"I guess it starts with papaya - that doesn't sound very tough, does it?" said Villeneuve with a smile, before adding: "I don't want to be demeaning, I'm trying to find the right words."

Encouraged by fellow pundit and former F1 driver Karun Chandhok to do so, he added: "I found it a little bit pathetic!

"This is F1. It's the pinnacle. If I was a McLaren fan I'd be upset. Do they really want to win? Do they care? It doesn't sound like they want to win.

"It's very utopia. It's beautiful, but you are here to win. It's all that matters.

"Lando got the better of Piastri for the first half of the season. He's the one with a chance to win. You play by that rule. I really fail to understand this concept of, 'This is how we work. It's so beautiful. We're much happier to finish second than to win. It's weird."

Villeneuve - 'It's F1. You're there to win'

In light of what unfolded at Monza, despite Norris closing the points gap to Verstappen, Villeneuve feels that "psychologically, Lando has lost a bit of momentum".

After spearheading a front-row lock-out, and heading into the second chicane still in the lead over Piastri, Norris was attacked by the Australian and ultimately was also passed by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

From a one-two on the grid, McLaren emerged from the race with a two-three, fronted by Piastri. 

"If it had been another driver in that chicane, he [Norris] would not have turned left as much, and he wouldn't have gotten out of shape, they might have banged wheels, and that was it," assessed Villeneuve.

"But because it was his team-mate, he wasn't very aggressive in his defence, and that lost a secure one-two for McLaren."

Villeneuve feels that if there were clauses in Piastri's contract, that would have made redundant all the talk over the past two weeks. As it is, it is now clear Piastri came in as a rookie on equal terms with Norris.

"If it's in the contracts you cannot do anything," said Villeneuve. "[It is] Very simple, then okay, we can understand it. That would be much better than the 30-minute explanation about the values. No, it's F1. You're there to win."