David Coulthard tells Andrea Stella to ‘do the right thing’ for Lando Norris after handing over win in Hungary

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McLaren driver Lando Norris will be hoping that when the chequered flag flies at the end of the season finale in Abu Dhabi, one of two scenarios has occurred.

Either he’s overcome one of the biggest deficits at this stage in a Formula 1 season to win his first world championship for McLaren, or he’s more than seven points behind Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship.

If Lando Norris is within a whisker of stopping the triple world champion from adding a fourth title to his collection, then he’ll look back at the decision he made on lap 68 of the Hungarian Grand Prix and wonder why he made the decision that he did.

Norris shouldn’t have been in a position to win in Hungary after losing out at the first corner to Oscar Piastri.

The Australian got down the inside of his teammate and as soon as Verstappen overtook Norris around the outside and off the track, his chances of catching his teammate were all but over.

However, McLaren presented Norris with an unexpected opportunity to win the race after pitting him early and allowing him to undercut the 23-year-old.

Norris then proved just how fast he was by opening up a considerable lead over Piastri as McLaren’s pit wall more and more aggressively asked him to hand the place back.

David Coulthard knows all about that situation having handed a victory to McLaren teammate Mika Hakkinen in 1998 and was speaking to team principal Andrea Stella on Channel 4.

He explained that Stella now has to do something for Norris that he received from the team when he handed victory to Hakkinen 26 years ago.

It might not be the seven points in the championship that Norris desperately wanted and another trophy for his cabinet, but it may help.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from height and parents to celebration

David Coulthard tells Andrea Stella to ‘do the right thing’ for McLaren star Lando Norris

Reviewing what happened after the race, Coulthard said: “One thing by the way, I still got paid a win bonus for finishing 2^nd, I know you’ll do the right thing for Lando.”

Stella replied: “OK, right, maybe we have a phone call and you give me some good advice!”

Coulthard followed up and exclaimed: “Just think about the money!”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Ron Dennis might have dealt with McLaren team radio situation very differently from Andrea Stella

It’s safe to say that since Andrea Stella has taken over as team principal of McLaren, the team have gone from strength to strength.

Zak Brown’s impact as McLaren CEO has been heavily praised although he was at Sunday’s IndyCar event meaning he couldn’t have an impact on the race from the pit wall.

Brown has been quick to highlight Stella’s importance to the team but he may have wondered whether he should have stepped in earlier in this scenario.

Stella was confident that Norris was always going to hand the victory to Piastri although he may have been getting slightly nervous about how long he was taking to move over.

Marc Priestley believes Ron Dennis would have dealt with the Norris situation very differently having been in charge when Coulthard allowed Hakkinen through back in the day.

With 11 race weekends left to negotiate, it’ll be interesting to see if Brown’s prediction that Norris and Piastri will clash will eventually come to pass.