McLaren explain health concern with number one driver status

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has highlighted there is no number one driver at his team but asserted it is not afraid to make a call to favour one of its competitors.

The Woking-based squad is currently chasing its first F1 title in 16 years and has significantly narrowed the gap to Red Bull in the constructors' championship over the last several months, which now stands at 30 points.

Its quest for a drivers' title has a more difficult outlook, as Lando Norris sits 70 points behind Max Verstappen with nine races to go.

Stella has asserted McLaren is not shying away from the team order situation and revealed it is in consistent discussions on the subject.

“We always have conversations around team orders from race one because you always want to enter a race having clarity as to how we are going to manage the internal competition between the two drivers,” Stella told media including RacingNews365.

“The conversations about team orders happen throughout the season. But then you have to take this conversation within the context of what is, for instance, the driver's classification. 

“In general, our approach is to be fair, to have integrity in the way we go racing.

“I keep saying that I've known no driver that wants to be number one out of a contract. Drivers want to be number one because they are fast on track. 

“And then when you are fast on track, definitely you want to be supported by the team when it's a 50-50 decision or like you have eight good weekends and it's a weekend in which you are struggling a little bit. Then the team can assist.”

McLaren could favour Norris

Although Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri is not out of the drivers' championship mathematically, its best chances currently seem to sit with the former who won the Dutch Grand Prix last weekend.

As such, Stella hinted it could start to favour Norris over Piastri in the coming races to boost its chances of a title win.

“We have nine races ahead of us and we create a number one driver - and then what do we do? All the favours to the number one driver? 

“This is not a healthy way of running a team. But for every race, we analyse the situations. 

“And in the 50-50 situations or in those cases in which, in this case, Lando may need a bit of extra support from the team, we are going to give it.

“But the team includes Oscar. The team should not do things that don't look reasonable to Oscar. We are in this together. 

“You don't go a team and a driver and the other driver kind of follows despite him. He needs to be part of this conversation and he needs to be in agreement with what we think is the way forward.”