Peter Windsor highlights key ‘mistake’ McLaren have made with Lando Norris’s new contract

Follow us on Google Discover

McLaren is now the favourite to beat Red Bull to the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship in the final eight races of the season.

The Woking-based squad has cut their advantage to just eight points after the Italian Grand Prix, where Red Bull was left scratching their heads over why Max Verstappen was over half a second off the pace of Lando Norris.

But in what should have been an easy one-two victory for McLaren, which would have put them level on points with their title rivals, Ferrari triumphed after a late decision to run the risk one-stop strategy with Charles Leclerc.

McLaren was caught up in its own race when Norris lost position to Oscar Piastri at the second corner, which allowed Leclerc to sneak into second. Suddenly, the team had to employ tactics to ensure its lead was preserved but it was against Norris rather than Piastri.

Norris is higher in the Drivers’ Championship than Piastri, but so far McLaren has been reluctant to give him preference in the races. The term ‘papaya rules’ was heard over team radio, which allowed Norris to race with Piastri so long as they leave each other space.

Discussing the team orders on the Cameron CC podcast, Peter Windsor believes McLaren made a mistake when they resigned Norris on a multi-year deal earlier this year.

McLaren should have made preference to Lando Norris

The timeline of Norris’ contract extension is interesting because it was a year after they signed Piastri, following an extensive contract dispute with Alpine.

Norris was already made the lead driver due to Piastri’s rookie status, but Windsor believes there is nothing in his deal that stipulates that the team must favour him on track.

“The mistake was resigning Lando for his long-term contract and not saying to him ‘You are definitive number one’ on the track, don’t worry about it, you’re always the focus of our championship'” said Windsor.

“They didn’t do that or Lando didn’t insist on that, because he thought Oscar Piastri wouldn’t be that big a deal.”

Carlos Sainz sends brutal message to Lando Norris after Oscar Piastri overtake

Carlos Sainz believes Norris has to be careful with his 23-year-old teammate. When asked about the first-lap incident between the pair at Monza, he said that it shows ‘you cannot trust anyone’ in F1.

Martin Brundle believes Piastri has no interest in helping Norris win the Drivers’ Championship at this point of the season, largely because he is still mathematically within a chance.

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

Despite missing out on getting level with Red Bull, former McLaren driver David Coulthard believes fans of the team can still be pleased after Monza.

Regardless of whether they can dethrone Red Bull or Verstappen, both Norris and Piastri will be safe in the knowledge that they stand a good chance of mounting a title challenge in 2025.