McLaren CEO Zak Brown has disclosed the team will decide over the summer break whether to prioritise Lando Norris’ championship hopes in Formula 1 this season.
Norris cut Max Verstappen’s points lead as McLaren claimed a 1-2 at the Hungaroring, but a team order to let team-mate Oscar Piastri through cost him seven points.
The Briton has capitalised on McLaren’s progress to emerge as Verstappen’s main challenger, though the Dutchman’s earlier dominance sees him hold a 76-point gap.
But with the MCL38 the most versatile car and Piastri 40 points behind Norris, McLaren boss Andrea Stella revealed that he could revise its equal status arrangement.
Brown has echoed Stella’s comments and even disclosed that the Woking-based squad’s top brass will meet to decide how to approach the remaining rounds in 2024.
“That’s ultimately going to be Andrea’s call,” Brown told Sky Sports. “We want to get through the first half of the season and see where we end up this weekend.
“I think the Constructors’ Championship, while it’s definitely not going to be easy, is well within reach.
“I think the challenge on the Drivers’ front is that Max’s bad days are second and third places, so [it’s hard] to make those clawbacks that we’re making on the Constructors’ that we can do because Sergio Perez is struggling at the moment, [but] we also know he’s capable of turning it on at any moment. That will be something I think we discuss over the summer break.”
Brown has expressed that he never harboured concerns that Norris’ deliberation with his race engineer would lead to him electing to not relinquish the lead to Piastri.
“I know Lando very well, so I had no doubt he was going to move over. I think we left it a bit long because they were free to race,” he explained.
“Had he made that change of position right away, you would have had 21 laps of racing to go.
“Part of me was actually happy they didn’t race because that would have been 21 laps of me biting my nails!
“I think it all worked out in the end. Some learnings there, some better communication amongst us – to be clearer with each other. But it all worked out in the end.”
Norris has insisted that he wants to “earn” a potential position as the number one driver, while Piastri believes that it would be premature to put him in a support role.
Asked whether he thinks his team-mate should be given preference, Piastri replied “No, I don’t think it should. I think we’re just over halfway through the season.
“There’s a long way to go, and I think the decisions we made in Budapest showed that, in the team’s view, it’s important about keeping the relationship strong, building the team, and ultimately scoring as many points for the Constructors as we can. Like I said, if Lando is in a position to win the championship and they ask me to help, then I will.
“But I think halfway through the season, with so many points still on offer, for myself as well, I think it’s still very early.”
