Formula 1 News: ‘Woke’ McLaren wants Norris to win world title – Ecclestone
The ‘woke’ McLaren F1 team is facing heavy criticism after ordering Oscar Piastri to hand second place to teammate Lando Norris at Monza on Sunday.
The call, which reduced Norris’ championship deficit from 34 to 31 points, was justified by team principal Andrea Stella as a matter of “philosophy.” Piastri had inherited the position when Norris lost time in a slow pitstop, but team radio revealed the Australian’s reluctance.
“I said what I had to say on the radio,” Piastri admitted afterward. “Once I got the second request, I wasn’t going to go against the team.”
The decision drew boos from the Italian crowd and has since attracted criticism from across the paddock and beyond.
Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone told Blick: “They keep talking about fairness. But is it fair for Piastri to be penalized for a team mistake? No.
“You’re starting to get the feeling McLaren prefers a world champion named Lando Norris.”
Ex-Haas boss Gunther Steiner called the switch “unnecessary,” arguing: “Oscar couldn’t be blamed for Lando’s slow stop. I wouldn’t have done it that way.”
Mercedes’ Toto Wolff, long friendly with McLaren chief Zak Brown, warned of dangerous precedents: “You set a precedent that is very difficult to undo. What if the team makes another mistake? Do you switch them around again? The answer will come later in the season when it heats up.”
Blick’s Roger Benoit suggested harsher words were spoken in private by Piastri’s manager Mark Webber, while Viaplay pundit Giedo van der Garde was blunt: “If I were Piastri, I would have said: ‘F*** it, I’m not letting him pass.'”
Even 1996 world champion Damon Hill joined the pile-on, joking: “In 1993 I won the Italian GP because Alain Prost’s Renault engine blew up. I’m now worried Renault will ask me to give the result back to him.”
Hill’s online poll showed 62 percent “not happy” with McLaren’s stance.
The controversy even reached the NBA, with Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid posting on X: “These papaya rules are something else lmao.
“Oscar is a better man than me.”
Stella, however, stood by McLaren’s approach while hinting at an internal review: “Review doesn’t mean change. It means agreeing and confirming how we go about our racing. That’s fundamental to our pursuit of excellence.” (In part from GMM)
