Transcript: How McLaren swapped Norris and Piastri – and what they said after

McLaren created a problem for themselves when they chose not to pit their drivers in the ‘usual’ order at the end of the Italian Grand Prix.

That, combined with a slow pit stop for Lando Norris, meant McLaren inadvertently dropped him behind his team mate. They rushed to reverse the unintended outcome by telling Oscar Piastri to let his team mate through again.

To McLaren’s relief, Piastri complied, and took much less time about it than Norris did when he was given a similar instruction at the Hungaroring last year. But he also suggested the call was not in line with what they’d agreed in the past.

“We said that a slow pit stop was part of racing,” he reminded race engineer Tom Stallard.

McLaren have tried to ensure a level playing field between their two championship-contending drivers. While team principal Andrea Stella argued they kept things fair by ensuring Piastri did not benefit from an early pit stop, Norris appeared to fall behind his team mate more due to his slow stop than the timing of the tyre changes.

Here’s how McLaren orchestrated the pit stops and subsequent switch, and what their drivers made of the decision afterwards.

The pit stops

Whenever two teams’ cars are running consecutively on the track and close enough together, they ordinarily pit the leading car first. This is logical, as it ensures they are first to gain the benefit of switching to softer tyres. Doing the opposite would give the chasing driver the benefit of the ‘undercut’.

In the closing stages of Sunday’s race, Norris was leading McLaren’s pursuit of race leader Max Verstappen, pursued by Piastri. As McLaren’s drivers were switching from very old medium tyres to soft rubber, the power of the ‘undercut’ for them would be significant.

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McLaren did not have the luxury of choosing exactly when to pit their drivers after Charles Leclerc pitted from fourth place behind Piastri. Norris’s race engineer Will Joseph told him when this happened:

McLaren initially began to call Norris in first. But knowing Leclerc had pitted, he asked the team whether they preferred to start with Piastri. They quickly agreed:

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The switch

McLaren brought Piastri in, telling him they were departing from standard procedure to ensure he stayed ahead of Leclerc. They brought Norris in on the next lap.

As soon as McLaren realised Norris’s pit stop hadn’t gone to plan, they advised both drivers they might end up close together at the pit exit:

On the lap after Norris rejoined, McLaren told both drivers they would restore the original order. Piastri questioned the call but complied:

After the drivers took the chequered flag Joseph told Norris: “Apologies about the stop.”

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“I’m sure we’ll discuss it again”

Although Norris dragged his feet last year in Hungary when he was told to let his team mate past under similar circumstances, he said he never doubted Piastri would follow McLaren’s order. “It’s what we decided as a team,” he said, “it’s what we all agreed upon.”

Piastri also acknowledged McLaren had discussed this potential situation before and said he wasn’t surprised by their request.

“We have had discussions about all kinds of scenarios,” he said. “When you’re in the same team, when there are things outside a driver’s control, there’s a lot more ways you can rectify things.

“So it is a discussion we’ve had. I’m sure we’ll review it and discuss more, but it wasn’t a situation that hadn’t been discussed before.”

But during the race Piastri said he thought McLaren wouldn’t use a slow pit stop as a pretext to swap the running order. He did not have an explanation for that. “I think the radio call kind of says enough,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll discuss it again.”

With the championship still likely to go to one of the two McLaren drivers, the pair insisted they would obey similar orders in the future, including in a potentially decisive race late in the season.

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By obeying McLaren’s order, Piastri allowed a six-point swing in Norris’s favour. But he said he won’t regret what he did if he ends up losing the championship by a few points.

“I think today it was a fair decision,” he said. “Lando was ahead the whole race and again it wasn’t through any fault of his own. For me, that’s fine.

“Ultimately, whoever wins the championship wants to have won it as much as they can through their own performances and things they can control. Today, that wasn’t one of those things.”

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You say

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