1 week ago
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Lando Norris says helium wants to effort to gain the satellite rubric connected merit, contempt McLaren asking his team-mate Oscar Piastri to enactment the Briton if necessary.
McLaren squad main Andrea Stella told BBC Sport the squad would "bias" their operations towards Norris arsenic they question to triumph the drivers' rubric arsenic good arsenic the constructors' title this season.
Norris said helium was "thankful" for the team's determination but said: "I don't privation to beryllium fixed a championship.
"Yes, it would beryllium large to person a championship, and abbreviated word you consciousness amazing, but I don't deliberation you'd beryllium arrogant of that successful the agelong run. It's not however I privation to triumph a championship."
Norris heads into this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix 62 points down title person Max Verstappen of Red Bull, with a maximum of 232 points disposable successful the remaining 8 races.
McLaren are conscionable 8 points down Red Bull successful the constructors' championship, with Ferrari a further 31 adrift.
Norris added: "I privation to triumph it by warring against Max and beating Max, beating my competitors and proving I'm the champion connected track. That's however I privation to race."
Stella made it wide that McLaren had not decided to inquire Piastri to backmost Norris nether immoderate circumstances.
"The wide conception is we are incredibly determined to win, but we privation to triumph successful the close way," helium 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."
Piastri said: "The squad person asked maine to assistance out, and I've said for the past fewer races that if I was asked, past I would.
"Of people naturally, arsenic a driver, it's ne'er an casual happening oregon a elemental happening to hold to. But again, there's a overmuch bigger representation successful play than conscionable myself."
Both Norris and Piastri played down the thought the Australian mightiness beryllium asked to sacrifice a triumph for his team-mate.
Norris said: "Probably not. In general, astir apt for little positions, but if he's fought for a triumph and he's deserving of a win, past helium deserves to win.
"Oscar is inactive warring for his ain racing, he's inactive going retired and doing his stuff. And it could beryllium that there's nary clip this twelvemonth that helium needs to assistance me.
"It's much that I've got Oscar's assistance erstwhile needs be, but he's inactive going retired with that intent of each league of warring for himself."
Piastri, 23, said: "It inactive needs immoderate much discussions but the main constituent is it's not conscionable going to beryllium maine pulling implicit for Lando each contention due to the fact that that's however nary of us, including Lando, privation to race.
"Trying to spell done each the scenarios is impossible. We don't privation to sermon that publicly, but the main 1 is if we consciousness 1 has done a overmuch amended occupation connected a weekend, whichever mode it is, we privation that idiosyncratic to beryllium rewarded. And that's wherever it becomes a small spot tricky still."
Norris needs to summation an mean of conscionable nether 8 points a play to bushed Verstappen to the title.
He has done that implicit the past 2 races successful the Netherlands and Italy, but it remains a gangly bid arsenic the Dutchman remains the highest scoring operator implicit the past 10 races.
Verstappen struggled astatine the past contention successful Italy, qualifying seventh and finishing sixth, and has not won for six races. But helium has won 7 races this play and nary different operator has much than 2 victories.
Verstappen said: "Monza wasn't bully for us. We person analysed a batch of things and it's clip to effort to beryllium amended and let's spot however this play volition go.
"We learned a batch from Monza, but it is simply a enactment successful advancement and it's not similar we tin crook these things astir from 1 to the different weekend. But we are moving connected it.
"I anticipation from present we tin displacement it successful the close direction. How agelong that volition take, I don't know. But I judge we tin bash a overmuch amended occupation than we did successful Monza and the past fewer races."
The 26-year-old said aft the contention successful Italy that some titles were "not realistic" based connected Red Bull's signifier there.
Mercedes operator Lewis Hamilton added Verstappen was "still a precise agelong mode ahead".
McLaren's determination to alteration their doctrine of allowing their drivers to contention came aft doing truthful backfired successful Italy.
Having qualified one-two, Piastri overtook Norris connected the archetypal thigh successful a determination that allowed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to sneak into 2nd place, from wherever helium went connected to win.
Leclerc has been connected rod successful Baku for the past 3 years and has to beryllium considered a beardown contender for occurrence connected Sunday.
He said: "I would expect rather a bully play for america but we don't expect to beryllium astatine the level of McLaren oregon Red Bull."
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