1 week ago
8
McLaren are to prioritise Lando Norris implicit team-mate Oscar Piastri successful their bid to triumph some Formula 1 satellite championships this year.
But squad main Andrea Stella said immoderate actions taken to backmost Norris successful the drivers' rubric pursuit would hap lone wrong the team's principles of sportsmanship and fairness.
Stella told BBC Sport: "The wide conception is we are incredibly determined to win, but we privation to triumph successful the close way."
Norris heads into this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix 62 points down Red Bull's Max Verstappen successful the drivers' title with a maximum of 232 inactive available.
Piastri is successful 4th spot successful the championship, 86 points down Verstappen.
Stella, speaking successful an exclusive interview, said: "We [will] bias our enactment to Lando but we privation to bash it without excessively overmuch compromise connected our principles.
"Our principles are that the squad involvement ever comes first. Sportsmanship for america is important successful the wide mode we spell racing. And past we privation to beryllium just to some drivers."
Until now, McLaren had allowed Norris and Piastri to contention each different without interference from the team.
The displacement successful argumentation towards uncovering ways to boost Norris' chances of beating Verstappen to the drivers' rubric comes aft a bid of meetings betwixt McLaren bosses and their drivers pursuing the Italian Grand Prix.
In Monza, Norris and Piastri qualified archetypal and 2nd but the Australian overtook the Briton connected the archetypal thigh and the incidental led to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc getting betwixt the 2 McLarens. Leclerc went connected to triumph the race, from Piastri and Norris. Verstappen finished an uncompetitive sixth.
Stella said: "What we don't privation to spot immoderate much is simply a concern similar successful Monza successful which we participate a chicane P1/P2 and we exit P1/P3. Because that is simply a detriment to the team.
"The squad interests comes archetypal and these are the situations that supra each we request to hole due to the fact that eventually, arsenic a substance of fact, the mode we entered the contention successful Monza near the doorway unfastened this situation.
"After Monza, 3 objectives: we request to marque definite that thing that happens connected way is not to the detriment of the team.
"Second objective, however bash we triumph some championships, some drivers committed to help?
"But what we don't privation to bash is triumph successful a reckless way.
"Those are the 3 topics and they specify the mode we spell racing successful Baku. This volition beryllium updated aft Baku."
Verstappen dominated the archetypal portion of the season, and has taken 7 victories, erstwhile nary different operator has much than 2 wins.
But the Dutchman has not won for six races, since the Spanish Grand Prix successful June, and Red Bull admit they are mislaid successful knowing wherefore their car has fallen backmost successful presumption of show compared to McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes
Stella said some McLaren drivers had bought into the displacement successful philosophy.
"The conversations person been precise collaborative," helium said.
"Even erstwhile I said to Oscar: 'Would you beryllium disposable to springiness up a victory?' He said: 'It's painful, but if it's the close happening to bash now, I volition bash it'.
"Every operator is hard-wired to spell for a victory. So I americium ever precise impressed by the level of squad tone and maturity and collaboration that we recovered successful this period."
Stella refused to springiness details of the benignant of choices that mightiness beryllium made successful Norris' favour but said decisions would beryllium made connected an advertisement hoc ground arsenic to whether immoderate interference betwixt the 2 drivers was "worthwhile".
And helium emphasised that Norris was connected committee with the thought of not going each retired successful acting successful his favour successful each way.
"Lando wants to triumph due to the fact that helium deserved the triumph connected track," Stella said.
"It's OK to beryllium occasionally supported by your team-mate, but you don't privation to use, systematically, ways of adjusting the contention conscionable for the involvement of the points erstwhile your team-mate is scoring successful a mode that helium deserves. This is not the mode McLaren privation to win, oregon the mode Lando wants to win.
"If I inquire Lando, helium would say: 'I americium comfy if successful Abu Dhabi [at the extremity of the season] I miss a fewer points that I could person got with immoderate actions, but if those actions were not close astatine the time, then, you cognize what? We support beardown arsenic a team, the squad is unchangeable and cohesive, we volition springiness it a spell adjacent year'."
In the constructors' championship, McLaren are conscionable 8 points down Red Bull and could instrumentality the pb this weekend. Ferrari are successful 3rd place, 31 adrift of McLaren.
Stella emphasised: "We request to beryllium cautious that portion we absorption the speech and the attraction connected to the drivers’, we don't suffer show connected the information that the constructors’ is astatine slightest a three-headed quest."
Stella said this changed attack from McLaren was chiseled from the alleged "papaya rules", a operation utilized by Norris’ technologist Will Joseph implicit the squad vigor successful Italy arsenic a shorthand for the drivers' rules of engagement with each different connected track.
Stella said: "The 'papaya rules' lone person to bash with racing with nary risks, nary interaction betwixt the 2 McLarens and respectfully. That's it.
"It's conscionable a speedy mode to punctual our drivers, 'Guys, don't instrumentality excessively overmuch hazard successful warring each other'."
English (US)