Lando Norris should’ve ignored team order ’embarrassment’ and ‘driven away’ in Hungary

McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri pictured with team boss Andrea Stella after the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix.

McLaren did not do the “smart” thing opening themselves up to controversial team orders in Hungary, orders Christijan Albers believes Lando Norris should’ve ignored.

Running 1-2 at the Hungaroring after Oscar Piastri got the jump on Lando Norris on the opening lap into Turn 1, McLaren’s seemingly easy Sunday afternoon was turned on its head in the second round of pit stops.

Should Lando Norris have ignored McLaren’s team order?

Making the call to pit Norris first to cover off Lewis Hamilton, the Briton got the undercut on Piastri who emerged behind his team-mate after he stopped.

McLaren were immediately on the radio to “re-establish the order” but it took 20 laps – and a lot of back-and-forth over the radio – before Norris was willing to do so.

Having built up a five-second lead, he slowed three laps before the end to allow Piastri through and into the lead for the Aussie to win his maiden Grand Prix win.

Albers says he shouldn’t have done that as he probably would’ve escaped censure given he’s managed by McLaren CEO Zak Brown.

“No, I would have just driven away,” the former F1 driver told De Telegraaf podcast. “I would have wrecked the whole thing, because you have nothing left to lose.

“I would have given Piastri a good beating. The bigger the distance, the better to sell it.

“Zak Brown is also Norris’ manager. I think Norris would have cycled through it too. It would just have been a bit of an embarrassment at that moment.”

“Let’s be honest,” he added. “Up until now, it’s clear that Norris is still the faster driver at McLaren.

“That pit stop wasn’t fair to Piastri, but he also had his moment at the start. Those are also snapshots. It’s not the race pace, it’s a start.

“If I were Norris, I would have increased the gap. From five to six, seven seconds.

“It was just bad from the team. It just wasn’t a smart move. The one who is ahead always has the choice of how or what.”

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The Hungarian Grand Prix saga came on the back of Norris insisting he is a “nice guy” after questions were asked about whether he is ruthless enough to fight for a World title.

But while Norris was reminded that F1 is a team point and that at some point he may need Piastri’s support to win a World title, Albers argues the only thing in F1 is that Drivers’ title.

“In terms of publicity and marketing, the driver who is the World Champion is always linked to a team. Not the other way around,” he said.

“If I say that Mercedes was Constructors’ Champion in 2021, you would say that it is not true, because Max Verstappen was World Champion.”

The Dutchman reckons Piastri’s manager, Mark Webber, who was the victim of the infamous Red Bull ‘multi 21’ team order drama with his 2013 team-mate Sebastian Vettel, must have been going “crazy” in the garage on Piastri’s behalf.

“I know for sure that Mark Webber went completely crazy in that pit box. He put so much pressure in that pit box, I know that for a hundred per cent,” he said.

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