Pedro de la Rosa shares the ‘only thing’ McLaren can tell Norris and Piastri about racing in Baku

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McLaren have an issue on their hands regarding their 2024 championship challenge, and it’s one that they could do without.

Unlike their rivals down at Red Bull, they have two drivers that are in close quarters every weekend, which will inevitably halt their progress.

It happened at the Italian Grand Prix, but they cannot afford for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to regularly fight for positions across the final eight races of the season.

If McLaren allow their drivers to clash on track, it could end up costing them a shot at their first championships in 16 years.

The ‘only thing’ McLaren can do is tell Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to ‘protect each other’

A man who knows the team well having driven for them back in the mid-2000s is Pedro de la Rosa – and he has shared his thoughts on the situation with the F1 Nation podcast.

Arguably, Piastri’s move on Norris on lap one in Monza ended up costing McLaren a one-two finish, as it opened the door for Charles Leclerc to get past one of them.

READ MORE: Five unforgettable Azerbaijan Grand Prix including Verstappen vs Ricciardo

They have to make sure that they win pretty much every race between now and the end of the season to win both titles, and team boss Andrea Stella knows that optimising their results now is crucial.

“For me, they’re not doing anything wrong. That’s where I’m coming from. The only thing they can tell the drivers really, is to be a bit more protective of each other during the race starts,” said de la Rosa.

“Don’t try to overtake in such an aggressive manner that you endanger your teammate of being overtaken by let’s say Leclerc, because what happened in Monza between Piastri and Norris.

“I think it was a fantastic move from Piastri, don’t get me wrong. Very racey, but I would say he went too far because Lando was compromised.”

McLaren hold the upper hand heading into the closing stages

Thankfully for McLaren, their main rivals Red Bull could be outside the top five for the next few races, as Formula 1 visits a few tracks which have been their nemesis in years gone by.

While Red Bull have won the past three Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the Baku City Circuit has the longest straight on the calendar, and the Austrian outfit were the slowest in the speed traps at this year’s Italian Grand Prix.

After that potentially comes yet more pain with the Singapore Grand Prix, which was the only race that their dominant RB19 car failed to win in 2023.

READ MORE: What changes McLaren have made to the papaya rules for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to help Lando Norris

Anything but two victories will be seen as a disappointment for McLaren, who now also have Ferrari to worry about after showing some improvements recently.

Their ‘Papaya Rules’ allow both drivers to race with each other as long as there isn’t any contact, but they will have to find a way to do this without compromising their own chances in the future, or risk throwing away a golden opportunity at the most coveted silverware in the sport.