Norris accepting McLaren team order 'defies racing driver logic'

Williams driver Alex Albon believes Lando Norris acceding to a team order from McLaren would not have been an easy decision to make as "it defies racing driver logic".

Norris inherited the lead of the Hungarian Grand Prix at the second round of pit stops from team-mate Oscar Piastri. Defending the possibility of a long-shot undercut from Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, Norris was called in first.

When Piastri stopped two laps later, he emerged behind the Briton but was informed the positions would be reversed. Norris, though, pulled away, and as he did so, it sparked a lively debate with engineer Will Joseph as to the merits of giving up the win.

Joseph ultimately had to play the team card, reminding Norris that if he wanted to challenge Max Verstappen for the drivers' title, he would need the help of all inside McLaren, including Piastri.

Norris eventually pulled aside with three laps remaining, claiming post-race that it was always going to be his intention, affording Piastri his first F1 victory.

Albon acknowledged F1's sporting anomaly where drivers seek individual glory with race wins and championships but they have to play the team game.

"All the power to Lando," said Albon, when asked by RacingNews365 in the post-race media pen at the Hungaroring about the situation that unfolded in the race. "Very respectful to be able to do that. I don't think it's easy. It defies racing driver logic.

"But he's a team man and McLaren is doing the right things. They're obviously also fighting for the constructors' [championship], so they're not being stupid. They're thinking of the big picture.

"I'm not sure they're in the drivers' championship, but they are in the constructors' championship, so I understand it. Lando's going to have some more wins anyway. He doesn't need to worry."

Albon had to settle for a disappointing 14th in Hungary where, at one point during the race, he criticised the team for its indecision over strategy that cost him a shot at a points finish.

The Thai-British driver was initially thwarted by an undercut overtake by Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso that put him and the team on the backfoot, leading to the meandering on strategy.

"We were going to go for a three-stop, but then we backed out and went to the two-stop," said Albon. "But in that process, I killed the tyres trying to make the three-stop happen. So then we were just in no man's land for the rest of the race.

"If we'd stuck to one [plan] we would have been fine. But because we backed out of one strategy we ended up in the middle.

"Here [in Hungary], you have to be confident, aggressive on your stops, commit to either short or long. By the time we pitted, we were kind of in the middle, so a little bit frustrating."