Jolyon Palmer sends team orders warning to McLaren after controversial Lando Norris decision in Monza

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Lando Norris was the top McLaren at the Italian Grand Prix as Max Verstappen beat the Brit and Oscar Piastri to victory. But the Woking outfit caused major controversy with their drivers.

Norris enjoyed a ‘tricky’ battle with Verstappen as he took the lead at the first corner. The Dutchman ran wide at the chicane and came out in front, but was forced to hand the position back.

Verstappen passed Norris soon after and disappeared into the distance for his third win of 2025. Norris and Piastri were second and third respectively heading into the pit stops.

McLaren chose to pit Piastri first to avoid a potential undercut from Charles Leclerc, enjoying a rapid 1.9-second stop. Norris came in a lap later, but the left front wheel gun jammed, resulting in him being undercut by his teammate.

The Woking outfit instructed Piastri to hand the position back to Norris, to which he obliged despite initial protest. The controversial decision left F1 fans furious with McLaren as the latter cuts the former’s lead down to 31 points in the standings.

Jolyon Palmer warns McLaren may have ‘opened a can of worms’ with how Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri go racing

Assessing McLaren’s decision via F1 TV’s Post-Race Show, former driver and pundit Jolyon Palmer warned the team that they may have ‘opened a can of worms’ with team orders. He says a slow pit stop is part of racing and that it could happen again in the final eight races.

He said: “I would say the engineering started before the pit stop phase, because Lando was given the choice to pit first or second. He said: ‘Well, I’m not going to pit second if you’re going to undercut me.’

“And that’s effectively what happened then with the slow stop. It’s just a bit murky, isn’t it? Where they’re allowed to race and where they’re not.

“Obviously, Andrea’s thinking that things are streamlined, Oscar didn’t think that in the car at the time.

“I think the first thing is, Lando drove better this weekend. So from a driver point of view, it’s probably the right result. But then these things happen in racing and it might happen again.

“And I just feel like they may have opened a can of worms here, because what happens if the pit stop’s seven seconds or eight seconds? Does the driver then have to back off even more?”

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

Key F1 figures have their say on McLaren’s team orders at the Italian Grand Prix

McLaren made the headlines at the Italian Grand Prix, but not for the right reasons. Their controversial team orders sparked much debate among key F1 figures.

Martin Brundle felt McLaren’s decision was ‘fair’, stating that the drivers ‘both played the team game’. Piastri was given the freedom to race Norris after relinquishing the position, but he could not find a way through.

David Coulthard accused McLaren of ‘manipulating’ the race by telling Piastri to let Norris through. The three points lost from finishing third could prove costly for his title charge.

Damon Hill felt McLaren ‘sorted’ any unwanted tension between the pair, but the team will not want to see this incident repeat in future races. With 31 points between Norris and Piastri and eight races to go, they want the championship to be settled on the track.