Piastri told to let Norris through as McLaren reveal what triggered swap
Photo: Race Pictures
Tobia is a Formula 1 journalist at GPblog with experience at international circuits. Since 2022, he has covered Grands Prix across Europe, delivering reliable coverage and insights from the paddock.
Andrea Stella has explained why McLaren instructed Oscar Piastri to let Lando Norris through during the United States Grand Prix. The Italian team principal revealed that the possibility of swapping positions was discussed before the race, with the British driver considered better equipped to deal with the challenging conditions at the Circuit of the Americas.
Norris and Piastri started eighth and seventh respectively in Austin, with the Australian initially maintaining his position ahead of his teammate. However, McLaren decided to intervene during the opening stages when Piastri struggled to match the pace of the cars in front, allowing Norris to move ahead and attempt to make further progress through the field.
The decision ultimately saw Norris finish fifth, while Piastri crossed the line in seventh place. The Briton briefly ran as high as second during the race but lost positions to Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton as his tyres deteriorated. Piastri, meanwhile, remained behind his teammate and defended his position against George Russell in the closing stages.
Stella explains why Piastri was asked to let Norris through
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Speaking after the race, Stella explained that the two McLaren drivers had shown different levels of performance throughout the weekend. According to the Italian, the constantly changing conditions in Austin played to Norris's strengths, while making it more difficult for Piastri to build the consistency he usually relies on.
“We had seen during the weekend that Lando was a little bit faster than Oscar. This is a track in which Lando excels and is one of the tracks in which Oscar instead struggles a little bit more.
Photo: Race Pictures
“This year, in particular for Oscar, is tricky because Oscar's superpower is to build; once he creates references, he can really effectively build lap after lap. But here every lap is different, so these are the conditions that challenge Oscar and actually are the conditions where Lando uses his own superpower, which is being very adaptive to the conditions, especially as the car slides.
“So, given this context, we discussed before the race that if Lando was behind Oscar, and Oscar could not keep up with the cars ahead, then we could have given Lando a chance or an opportunity to see if we could attack the cars ahead – and that's what we did.”
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McLaren prioritise team interests after Singapore tensions
Stella also addressed the wider reasoning behind the decision, stressing that McLaren's priority was to maximise the team's performance rather than focus on the competition between its two drivers.
The Italian pointed to discussions following the Singapore Grand Prix, where McLaren reinforced the importance of working together to return to the front before managing the internal battle between Norris and Piastri.
“It's a way of demonstrating that as a team and together with the drivers, we care about the interests of the team, which was always the conversation that we have had,” Stella added.
“Especially after Singapore, we reinforced how much it's important that we all together help McLaren go back to the position that we want to have, which is Oscar and Lando, first row in qualifying, fighting for the win, and then we manage the internal competition. But up to then, all together, we need to sustain the trajectory of McLaren back to the front.”
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