The McLaren team has introduced a team management ahead of the Azerbaijan GP to support Lando Norris in the fight for the F1 world title. The Briton trails leader Max Verstappen by 62 points with eight races and three sprints remaining in the year. There are still 232 skill points available.
Dutchman Verstappen of the Red Bull team is the reigning world champion and has won all three titles in a row. His team had a dominant start to this season as well, but their form began to decline significantly after the announced departure of technical director Adrian Newey in May.
He made his decision after the case of team boss Christian Horner regarding the alleged harassment of one of the female employees. In the end, the allegation was not confirmed.
The possible introduction of team management was confirmed by the head of the team, Andrea Stella, according to information from the AFP agency, on Thursday in an interview with the BBC. The team initially took the approach of not interfering in internal fights, but already in Baku, according to Stella, they will support Norris.
“In general, we are extremely determined to win, but we want to do it the right way. We will support Lando purposefully, but with as few compromises as possible and in accordance with our principles.
According to them, the team always comes first. For us, sportsmanship and racing as such are important,” said Stella, according to whom both drivers made this decision:
“I asked Oscar (Piastri) if he would be willing to give up the win. He admitted it would hurt, but it was the right thing to do at the moment and he would comply with the order.’
McLaren is breathing down Red Bull’s neck even more significantly in the Constructors’ Cup, in which it has a loss of only eight points. The Australian Piastri also had a big part in this, who scored 197 points this season and is four behind Norris.
However, as a result of mutual fights, both lost points, for example at last week’s VC Italy. If McLaren “played” on Norris, the leader Piastri could “push” Charles Leclerc in Ferrari on his teammate driving in third place.
Norris would get more points at the expense of the Australian’s race. In the end, the Monaco won in Monza in the service of Ferrari.
McLaren has been talked about as the fastest single-seater in the field since August and has already collected three wins and 15 podiums this season. The team from Woking is experiencing the best season since 2012.
Verstappen, who dominated last year and the season before last, has not won six times in a row and last stood on the top podium in June at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
