Jolyon Palmer shares whether he would have listened to McLaren’s team orders like Lando Norris in Hungary

Follow us on Google Discover

Lando Norris caused controversy when he ignored team orders from his McLaren engineer in the closing stages of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

His engineer Will Joseph could be heard pleading with Norris to give the position back to Piastri, after the team made a strategic error in pitting him to cover off a potential threat from Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

After giving Norris priority in the pit stops he effectively undercut his teammate, leading to him emerging in the lead in the final few laps of the race. Following several messages over the team radio, Norris was warned that a Safety Car could make it difficult for him to orchestrate the position swap.

He eventually obliged and let Piastri through to take his first Grand Prix victory, but it led to several questions over whether other drivers would do the same.

Peter Windsor felt Norris was “absolutely outrageous” for giving up the race win, while former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer gave his opinion on what he would have done in the same scenario when discussing it on his F1 TV analysis.

Jolyon Palmer shares if he would have ignored McLaren team orders

Former F1 driver Tiff Needell felt McLaren should have dealt with the team orders by being clearer rather than issuing vague messages, which is potentially what led to Norris initially ignoring them.

Having raced in F1 with Renault in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Palmer gave his opinion on whether he would have done the same as Norris if in the same scenario.

“Honestly, I would’ve done. But that’s not to say it is the right thing to do, there are plenty of ruthless champions in the past who wouldn’t have done it. If you remember Sebastian Vettel in Sepang with Multi 21. The race came about there where Vettel ignored team orders, beat Webber, and then apologised afterwards.

“It was a very awkward situation, but I’m too much of a goody-two-shoes and would have listened to the team. Also, Lando doesn’t want to alienate himself within the team or create a rivalry that has been kind to him in the past. There have been a handful of times when Piastri has given up places when Norris has been the faster car.”

Should F1 drivers adhere to team orders?

Team orders played a role in F1 throughout its history, largely because they are designed to maximise a race result or championship chances.

Although Norris is ahead of Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship, the team felt it unnecessary to create friction while fighting for a Constructors’ Championship with Red Bull.

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

On a day when Sergio Perez started outside of the top ten and Max Verstappen had a difficult race, McLaren had an opportunity to take a sizable chunk out of their leads in both championships.

Norris now faces a further seven-point deficit having lost out on the win in Hungary, something he will need to recuperate while cutting the 70-point lead Verstappen has over the next 11 races.