Max Verstappen would not accept being number 2 behind Lando Norris at McLaren if he were Oscar Piastri: Would the Australian have to put his foot down?
Over the course of the 2024 Formula One season, McLaren has developed over the summer into a team that is challenging Red Bull for the constructors’ title. His team now already has an acceptable points lead over Red Bull, but Lando Norris is still some way behind in the drivers’ championship, 52 points behind Max Verstappen.
And although McLaren is sticking to its general approach of having two equally strong drivers, the growing realization that Norris could still win his first world championship title has led the team to give the Brit priority whenever the situation on the track demands it.
When World Champion Max Verstappen was asked for his opinion on McLaren’s team structure in an interview with Motorsport.com, the three-time Formula 1 world champion said Oscar Piastri is “too good” to play only a supporting role: “For me, he’s definitely not [a second driver] and if I were him, I would never accept that,” said Verstappen.
“Of course it’s easy for me to talk, because I’ve been in Formula 1 for ten years and it’s Oscar’s second season, so it’s always harder to put your foot down. But he’s just a great Formula 1 driver who doesn’t deserve to miss out on victories and positions and play second fiddle just because someone asks him to.”
Norris: Don’t want the World Cup handed to me
The revised approach would likely have seen McLaren swap positions at Monza when Piastri and Norris finished second and third respectively, but the team has always been clear that it would not ask Piastri to give up race wins for Norris. Norris has also stated that he does not want the championship handed to him on a plate.
“If a driver is doing better than me and performing, it means I need to do a better job, so I don’t want to take that away from anyone,” Norris says. “I also don’t want someone to hand me a championship. Yes, it would be great to have a championship and in the short term you feel great, but I don’t think you would be proud of it in the long term.
“I want to win the championship by beating Max, beating my competitors and proving that I’m the best on the track.”
Verstappen on McLaren: The best driver duo?
Verstappen praises McLaren for the rapid development in the past 18 months and for the fact that Norris and Piastri are an impressive driver combination. When asked if the duo is the best driver pairing among Red Bull’s competitors, he replies: “Yes, because they are very well matched and because they are both fast.”
“McLaren has really put the right people in the right place, people who have already worked in the team. They’re not all new hires, except for people like [former Red Bull designer] Rob Marshall. But some employees have been given new responsibilities, and you can see how quickly that can have an impact.”