Why McLaren Could Regret Giving Up On The Drivers Championship

Oscar Piastri finally got his maiden win in F1, but not without some awkward team orders from his teammate Lando Norris. Thing is, was it a short sighted decision by McLaren? Lando is 2nd in the Drivers Championship at the end of the day...

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#TommoF1

[TommoMcCluskey]

With 11 races to go, how close does Lando need to be to Max for you to consider him to be in a "title fight?"

40? 50? 60? etc...

[NoToBigBro]

M. Schumacher: You can be remembered as that nice guy who was a good teammate or you can be remembered as a world champion. He said this to young Vettel.

[Vadjong]

First, I got upset by McLaren for shafting Oscar AGAIN. Then, I got upset by McLaren for shafting Lando AGAIN.

[neilmaguinness]

Never forget Kimi was 17 points a drift with just 2 races left of the season (in the old point system at just 10 points for a win) and still walked away with the title in ‘07.

That’s the equivalent of Lando being 42.5 points behind Max once we show up in Qatar and still becoming champion.

[corysimpson]

If McLaren pitts Oscar first none of this nonsense happens

[hammadshabbir]

I think Lando could've let him by early and then fight Oscar.

[AdmiralRex]

The race was a Oscar win, but a McLaren loss.

It went almost perfectly for them, Max had an absolute clanger of a race, Ferrari and Mercedes were really nowhere near. Somehow, McLaren, on a 1-2 still managed to screw something up, create drama, and taint Oscar's maiden win.

[Slaker]

If the McLaren is good enough that Lando catches up to Max by the end of the season, Oscar will be at the front of the field as well. Playing nice and losing seven points now means a teammate that will be willing to help and sacrifice points and positions for team strategies later. The way it was handled was horrible, but I think all parties made the right choice.

It's a long shot to say Lando is in a title fight regardless. He will have to win races regularly to be a genuine contender, and in that world, there will be plenty of instances where he'll be grateful for a healthy team relationship.

[Gatorsfan]

The fact that we’re even having this discussion proves there is no title fight. McLaren are not ready to fight for a title because they are continuing to make poor strategic calls. As a Norris fan, Max has this in the bag. If we can go back in time, the true correct thing would be for McLaren to pit Oscar first, then Lando, then let them fight to the end. Period. If it was way closer of a title fight, then maybe we talk about Oscar giving up his first true race win (…aka hell no he wouldn’t want to do that) for Norris to catch Max.

[captaintoyota]

Insane to not fight for every point in the title when u have fastest car

[ahill]

The difference is they 'may' regret not letting Norris win, but they 'would' regret losing driver confidence that the team is treating drivers equally.

[mikereyes]

Not really these 7 points, but the botched strategies form previous GPs which should've been converted to wins are more costly IMO. If he loses by 7 points it's not because of Hungaroring it's due to Spain, Silverstone, Canada not being wins when they should've been.

Swapping with Piastri was the correct choice, the chances of overcoming such a big lead in the WDC are there, but not big enough to risk a potential fallout between teammates, which in the end would been a lot more costly if indeed a run for WDC is in the cards.

[yanreis]

14:38 "... Oscar is 3.5 (behind), i know you'll do the right thing", and "i promise, i'm trying to protect you" were definitely gaslighting and "...your gonna need Oscar and your gonna need the team" was desperate

[farpumba]

Even with an 1-2, this was a failed race for McLaren. Awkward first win for Oscar, didn't prioritize Lando's championship charge. Looks like 2022/2023 Ferrari's strategists are now working at McLaren.

[Davd]

12 races and only 76 points behind. It could have been 69 points. 6 points per race is very achievable

[josephwilliams]

Tommo Silverstone: if Max extends this week it’s championship over
*extends lead over Norris*
Tommo after Hungary: Championship on??

[Yoss]

Simply accurate! Just thinking that Lando could have won at least 3 or 4 races by now, while only last week the team ruined it for him with the wrong choice of wheels at the end... and now this - ruin it for both Lando and Oscar. McLaren still have a lot of work to do within the team.

[micahkiyimba]

Lando doesn't have it.
Verstappen in the same situation would take the win and remind the team he can still win the title.

Lando allowed the team to forget about his own ambitions.

[jamiemaxwell]

McLaren and Zac, in particular, have been very clear about the "way we want to go racing", i.e. very much NOT the win at all costs regardless approach that so many seem to reference as being the only way "real" champions do. It's their choice to do so, and it's the drivers choice to be at that team and follow its racing philosophy.

[jeremytewari]

Oscar makes a bunch of sacrifices for Lando every race, he’s a great teammate. Those seven points are not worth ruining Oscar’s relationship with Lando and causing him to stop being a team player. Lando truly does have better odds of winning with Oscar in his corner. Whole thing was McLaren’s fault