McLaren told team orders ‘truth’ by Juan Pablo Montoya as Lando Norris’ F1 title hopes hang in the balance

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McLaren have an incredibly quick car during the 2024 Formula 1 season and could be considered favourites to win the Constructors’ Championship.

The British team are eight points behind Red Bull with as many races remaining and have consistently closed the gap over the last few races.

McLaren have two drivers capable of taking victory in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, both of whom took their first win this year.

Norris may have an outside chance at snatching the Drivers’ Championship from Max Verstappen despite being 62 points behind the Dutchman.

Juan Pablo Montoya is adamant that McLaren needs to focus on Norris to win the drivers’ title and spoke to AS Colombia.

Juan Pablo Montoya believes Lando Norris needs to be ‘a little more aggressive’

Norris has taken two victories so far this season, firstly in Miami which was followed by a dominant drive at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Canadian, British and Italian Grand Prix were opportunities for Norris to take more wins and improve his title challenge.

The McLaren driver has also struggled off-line at times, losing the lead in the Netherlands before quickly regaining it, as well as making a minor error on the first lap in Belgium.

Montoya is sure that McLaren must focus on Norris if they want to clinch their first driver’s title since 2008.

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He said: “In my opinion, if I was Lando I would be a little more aggressive because Oscar is setting a very aggressive precedent they I think the order they set in the first lap to not run against each other, and Oscar took advantage.

“I’m sure they’re talking about it and scratching their heads and looking to see if they take the decision to do it, and the truth is that if they want to be world champions with Lando, they have to do it, and they have to do it before Red Bull improves.”

Lando Norris has failed to take multiple opportunities to close Max Verstappen’s points lead

McLaren have improved a lot over the past year and are consistently on the podium on a range of tracks in Formula 1.

Norris has taken two wins so far this year, but he could have taken more victories to give himself a better chance of winning the championship.

The Austrian Grand Prix ended after making the slightest touches with Verstappen while battling for the lead. The Dutchman finished fifth, while Norris failed to score at the Red Bull Ring.

Battling at the front comes with much more pressure than racing for points and Norris is experiencing this for the first time, while Verstappen has been winning races since 2016.

The title could still be on for Norris but he can’t afford any errors as the races will soon run out as the season draws to a close.