Ted Kravitz notes something ‘strange’ that Lando Norris said to the media at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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McLaren are looking to take the fight to Red Bull in both championships with eight rounds left of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

McLaren are just eight points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship as the Woking-based squad look to have the fastest car on the grid.

Christian Horner says Red Bull are now fourth-fastest, which was evidenced at Monza as Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez struggled in sixth and eighth respectively.

Lando Norris has cut Verstappen’s lead down to 62 points in the drivers’ standings, but it could have been less than that. Despite the pace of the McLaren, Norris has only managed two wins and converted one of his four pole positions so far.

At Monza, teammate Oscar Piastri dived round the outside of Norris at the second chicane for the lead and caught him off guard. This allowed Charles Leclerc to demote the Brit to third, as the Ferrari went on the win the race after a bold one-stop strategy, with Piastri second and Norris third.

Ted Kravitz notes the ‘strange’ thing Lando Norris said to the media about Budapest

Understandably, the situation surrounding McLaren and their strategy for the title was the major talking point for the media, as well as Adrian Newey signing for Aston Martin.

The topic of team orders at McLaren and whether they will prioritise Norris as their best chance to win the title has been going on since the Italian Grand Prix. Norris looked sick of the media in Azerbaijan as a result of the constant questioning as many try to figure out how the team are going to play it with their two drivers.

One of the major talking points from McLaren this season was back in Hungary, as Norris was forced to let Piastri back past for the win after the former ended up ahead after the second pit stop.

Speaking on Ted’s Podbook, Ted Kravitz noted that Norris was questioned in the media pen about the matter in the wake of the discussion around team orders. The pit lane reporter could not help but be bewildered by the McLaren driver’s comments on the situation in Budapest.

“This is a strange thing that Lando said,” he said.

“It was put to him, you know, what about the lost points in Hungary where you gave the position back to Oscar and arguably the P2 in Monza?

“And Lando said: ‘look I’ve not lost on any points. I’m very happy with how we’ve worked as a team and we’ve got the points that we deserve,’ so I think you can tell what’s going on there.”

Have McLaren implemented team orders too late for Lando Norris?

Norris’ comments are interesting to say the least, considering that those seven points he missed out on in Hungary may come back to bite him in his quest for the championship.

McLaren will implement some team orders to prioritise Norris, with Piastri set to help his teammate win races. However, the team will not ask the Aussie to give up his lead if he has a substantial gap over the field.

Norris said he had mixed feelings about team orders being swung in his favour, saying that he did not want to be simply handed wins. However, he may regret not wanting those team orders sooner, as he would have been 52 points behind Verstappen had he carried on to victory in Hungary and finished ahead of Piastri in second at Monza.

McLaren look nailed on to win the constructors’ championship and with the drivers’ title within reach for Norris, the team will be watched with intrigued eyes to see how they execute their strategy to win the 2024 championship.