McLaren have had a week to ponder the events of the Italian Grand Prix and will want to make amends in Baku for missing out on victory after locking out the front row of the grid.
Lando Norris is in a title fight with triple world champion Max Verstappen but his McLaren team haven’t been making the decisions many would have expected in their position.
His teammate Oscar Piastri is more than 100 points behind the Dutchman but is still racing – and being allowed to race – as if he has a chance of winning the championship.
That was clear to see at Monza when Piastri pulled off the overtake of the season to take the lead of the race.
It compromised Norris to the extent that he lost a place to Charles Leclerc and the Monegasque’s risky one-stop strategy earned him the win despite the fact McLaren were running one-two heading into the final stint of the race.
Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, former team principal Guenther Steiner was analysing the young Brit’s performance.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine
Norris is notoriously harsh on himself and even when he set his pole position lap for the Italian Grand Prix, lamented that he could have gone faster.
Steiner wants Norris to be angrier with himself on the team radio and show more emotion.
His Australian teammate is equally calm under pressure but Martin Brundle has noticed that Piastri has the killer instinct in certain situations that Norris may lack.
He needs to discover it quickly if he’s going to take advantage of a very unlikely opportunity to win a world championship.
Guenther Steiner wants Lando Norris to be more emotional on the McLaren team radio
Asked if he feels like Norris deserves to win the championship this year, Steiner said: “I don’t know if it is, if you ask, it’s not [an] obvious thing.
“Oh yeah, he deserves to win it. No, I mean, he needs to fight for it
“But you know what was strange to me as well? It’s like Oscar overtakes him, there is never a bad reaction or an emotional reaction from Lando.

“It’s never. I mean, I would go on the radio and say, what the —- is this all about?
“Not in that voice. It would be a little bit louder than that. But it’s like, here we are again.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from height and parents to celebration
“I’m trying to win a championship for McLaren, obviously for me as well.
“But I mean, you get the background when you talk, what is the team doing with me, we’re trying to win this championship.
“No, it’s actually me, I want to win it, but I give it to you now so I can win it. But he never plays this and I don’t know, it’s, he beats himself up a lot.”
Juan Pablo Montoya reacts to McLaren’s team orders
McLaren’s papaya rules were a serious talking point after the race in Monza with many confused as to just how beneficial they were to Norris considering he’s leading the championship.
READ MORE: Ted Kravitz explains McLaren’s ‘papaya rules’ after Lando Norris is given team orders
Juan Pablo Montoya has shared his thoughts on McLaren’s team orders and isn’t sure they’re doing enough to help the 24-year-old.
The trouble is, if Piastri has a clause in his contract that means McLaren have to treat him as Norris’s equal, then there may be only so much they can do.
However, his time will come and if he’s already driving at this level during his second season, he’s only going to get better.
McLaren have to find a way to make sure Norris finishes ahead of Piastri at every race between now and the end of the season if he’s going to have any chance of snatching the title off Verstappen.
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