Former F1 driver tells McLaren how they should have dealt with Lando Norris radio situation

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Lando Norris was at the receiving end of several radio messages from his McLaren team during the closing stages of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Briton had been prioritised in the final pit stops ahead of teammate and leader of the race Oscar Piastri, after McLaren felt a threat was emerging behind them with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Fearing a similar scenario to the British Grand Prix, Norris was pitted first and effectively given an undercut, whereby pitting a lap earlier than your rival can gain you considerable time, on Piastri.

McLaren did this on the premise that he gave the position back to Piastri once the pit stops were completed and a considerable gap was generated. Following extensive discussions over team radio, Norris slowed to let Piastri through with two laps left to run.

The saga conjured up similar scenarios in F1 history, whereby race results have been influenced by team orders issued to drivers on track. Former F1 driver Tiff Needell believes McLaren should have been clearer to Norris when giving their instructions to prevent any further controversy when discussing it on the Lovecars on the Grid podcast.

Tiff Needell thinks McLaren needed to be ‘straight up’ with Lando Norris

Norris’ engineer, Will Joseph, told him to “reestablished the order at your convenience” in the first instance immediatly following the pit stop.

He later warned the Briton that he was “using the tyres too much” and that the team’s director of engineering, Hiroshi Imai, was “stressed about the tyres.”

Needell felt the vagueness of the statements is potentially what led Norris to questioning the intentions from McLaren, rather than immediately giving the position back to Piastri.

“Some of the comments from the pits, he [engineer] was talking to Norris like a schoolboy,” said Needell.

“Don’t be naughty, remember Sunday mornings, you’ll need them in the future. He should’ve just said ‘Look Lando, give it away.’ Just be more straight up and not trying to word it.”

Lando Norris adds Hungary to F1 win near-miss tally

The situation that panned out over team radio was extraordinary and clearly tense within the McLaren camp, with some interpreting the messages to be directly some team principal Andrea Stella aimed at Norris.

Nico Rosberg likened the situation to his years at Mercedes when fighting for titles with Lewis Hamilton, while Jacques Villeneuve highlighted the ‘big issue’ McLaren might have at the end of the season by orchestrating the team orders.

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

Peter Windsor on the other hand, believes that Norris was ‘absolutely outrageous’ for giving away the win to Piastri and will likely regret the scenario in years to come.

Norris is currently 76 points away from Max Verstappen and would have gained another seven if he won the race, putting him to within 70 points of the defending champion with 11 races left to run.