Oscar Piastri has played a supporting role for Lando Norris in recent races while in contention for the title, but his race engineer Tom Stallard explained that he was “very positive in his support for the team”.

Piastri has moved aside for Norris from recent fringe calls for team orders, notably at the final round in Brazil when he gave up the Sprint win to his team-mate, which Norris himself said he was “not proud of” at the time in the context of the title fight.

Oscar Piastri ‘looks at the long game’ in assisting McLaren team command

Stallard made an indirect reference to the 2007 season at McLaren for an example of how drivers working against each other can be detrimental to the team, when Fernando Alonso and a rookie Lewis Hamilton battled tooth and nail all season long before then-Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen eventually wins the World Championship by a single point. the end of the year.

With that in mind, he said the young Aussie is looking ahead to how he can be helped in a title fight one day, should the shoe be on the other foot, while stressing the strong spirit of the team operating at McLaren as standing.

Asked how Piastri would handle team orders in the context of a World Championship battle, Stallard said a recent episode of Beyond the Grid podcast: “I think there are two aspects to this. The first is that this team is very tight, and this team wants what’s best for the team.

Lando Norris vs Oscar Piastri: McLaren head-to-head stats for F1 2024

F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between teammates

F1 2024: Head-to-head racing statistics between teammates

“The other thing I would say is if you’re a driver who believes you’re going to win drivers’ championships, you want to be part of a team that will support you to do that.

“So if you’re not prepared to help the team accomplish that when it’s the other guy, how do you expect the team to treat you the next time it’s you?

“So it’s not that there should be a kernel for everything in it, it’s just that there have been plenty of examples of Formula 1 teams where the two drivers just rip lanes off each other for the whole season and then at the end of it, Kimi Raikkonen wins.

“I think from that point of view, Oscar has been very, very positive in his support for the team and his willingness to support the team in what needs to happen.

“He looks at the long game and really wants his team to win.”

Norris fell 62 points behind Verstappen in the 2024 F1 title race after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix with 86 points remaining, while Piastri is now out of contention for this year’s crown.

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