Lando Norris ‘is not happy’ with what McLaren have just done claims Karun Chandhok

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Lando Norris is fighting for his first Formula 1 drivers’ title but Karun Chandhok thinks McLaren made the Briton unhappy with the ‘perception’ of what they have just done.

The 24-year-old arrived in Baku for this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix fighting a 62-point deficit to defending champion Max Verstappen. While McLaren have made inroads into the gap they face to Red Bull for the constructors’ title, Norris has not made the same progress.

Despite McLaren outscoring Red Bull by 85 points since Verstappen last won a Grand Prix at the Spanish GP in June, Norris has only outscored his rival by seven points in six rounds. The same period has even seen Oscar Piastri score 110 points to Norris’ 91 and Verstappen’s 84.

Lando Norris is unhappy with the ‘perception’ of McLaren’s team orders decision

So, with Norris presenting McLaren’s best hope for winning the 2024 drivers’ championship, the Woking outfit have now placed team orders on Piastri to help his teammate’s hopes. The Australian will not have to yield race wins to the Briton but will start races at a disadvantage.

McLaren placing team orders on Piastri to help Norris’ title chances ahead of the Azerbaijan GP could be too late, though. The papaya crew saw Piastri finish in front of the 23-year-old’s teammate in the Italian Grand Prix with P2 and P3 after passing Norris for the lead on Lap 1.

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With Piastri also outscoring Norris over the last six rounds, Chandhok doubts the Melbourne native is happy to now accept McLaren issuing team orders. But the former HRT driver does not believe Norris is happy with the situation, either, as the picture it creates is unflattering.

“I think Piastri’s not happy about the fact that he’s going to potentially get disadvantaged by team orders,” Chandhok said on Sky Sports F1 (13/09, 10:34). “Honestly, I don’t think Norris is happy by the perception that he needs Piastri to help him win races.

“He has won races in a dominant way – as we’ve seen in Zandvoort – and he’s been broadly across the season the dominant driver.”

Lando Norris may regret McLaren not issuing team orders sooner in the title race

Before McLaren officially implemented them in Baku, Norris admitted he had mixed feelings about team orders in his favour. The Briton admitted after finishing behind Piastri at Monza that while he would ‘love’ the help in the title race, he did not want to just be handed wins.

Now, the Bristol-born star will have Piastri’s help to try and close Verstappen down, despite the Australian only being 44 points behind the Briton. But Norris might regret McLaren not issuing them sooner after seeing Piastri win the Hungarian GP after passing Norris on Lap 1.

The seven points Piastri gained over Norris in Budapest and the three-point difference from P2 to P3 at Monza would put the Briton 52 points from Verstappen. Instead, he needs to at least outscore the Dutchman by 7.75 points per round during the final eight to win the title.