Piastri reveals where his allegiance lies: World title or McLaren?
Photo: Race Pictures
A filmmaker with a soft spot for Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen and above all, Tazio Nuvolari and Ayrton Senna, is also a diehard Formula One fan since the age of 4 (mid-90's). An avid researcher of the past of Grand Prix Racing since before it was even named F1, and with a thirst for knowledge of the ins and outs of the actuality of the sport, as well as for the technical aspects that define it, is a member of GPblog since 2023, where he has put his love of racing to good use.
McLaren has held internal discussions over the debate-sparking team orders at the Italian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri has revealed.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in Monza. Photo: RacePictures
“[Piastri will] not [put his individual title bid first] at the cost of future success. Definitely not.”- Oscar Piastri
In conversation with ESPN, Piastri said: “We have had very good discussions this week about what went on and what can be made clearer, what can be improved.
“That’s always kind of a learning process, I guess. But, ultimately I know that the team would have my best interests at heart."
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He continued: “And ultimately, I want to protect that because I can’t have my own success without the team having success. So protecting that is a very important thing for me.”
As opinions have outpoured tipping Piastri and teammate Lando Norris to put themselves and their goal to become world champion ahead of the team's interests, the Australian pledged his allegiance to McLaren's racing philosopy affirming otherwise: “Not at the cost of future success. Definitely not.”
In the Italian Grand Prix, a faulty left front wheel gun produced a slow pit stop for Norris, and despite McLaren's pit stop sequence of boxing Piastri first designed to maintain positions on track, the Australian was able to get ahead of the British driver.
The call then came on Piastri's radio to let Norris by, which he argued against, but only once. When the team's instruction were issued again, the championship leader complied.
Since then reigning world champion Max Verstappen stated he would not have done the same as Piastri did, and former F1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone even went as far as to claim McLaren were favouring Norris' title bid.
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McLaren set a dangerous precedent with F1 title on the line
With the 2025 season now on its home stretch with only eight Grands Prix left to go, a gap of 31 points now separate thye two McLaren drivers with Piastri leading Norris.
Should the gap grow close enough for a team order to have a tangible impact in the standings order, the intrateam harmony their racing philosophy aims at safeguarding could be very much at risk, particularly since Norris has benefitted from McLaren's strategy calls, like in his Hungarian Grand Prix win, for instance.
Although with two DNF'S to his name (Canada and the Netherlands), the fact that Norris is trailing Piastri by only 31 points says a lot about both of the drivers' season.
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