What McLaren told Oscar Piastri to do in critical unbroadcast radio message at the US Grand Prix

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was out-of-sorts at the US Grand Prix last weekend. Piastri’s haul of 10 points was his lowest since the Spanish GP back in June.

That stat is particularly damning because there were 34 on offer in Austin, rather than the usual 26, thanks to the Sprint race. Piastri wasn’t able to score on Saturday after an SQ1 exit.

The Australian had reached Q3 or SQ3 in every single qualifying session in 2024, so it was a major shock to see him line up 16th. He was able to fight his way to 10th, but points are only handed out to the top eight in the Sprint.

Piastri received a controversial five-second penalty after the stewards ruled that he’d forced Pierre Gasly off the track. The main race on Sunday was cleaner for the 23-year-old, but it was also somewhat lonely.

He was the only frontrunner to hold position, starting and finishing fifth after a seemingly uneventful afternoon. Lando Norris dropped from pole to fourth in the sister car.

Even on a weekend where the MCL38 wasn’t the fastest, they only lost one point to Red Bull in the constructors’ championship. However, Ferrari, who scored a 1-2 through Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, made big gains to set up a three-way fight.

McLaren told Oscar Piastri to stay behind Lando Norris at US Grand Prix

Late in the race, Norris was involved in a prolonged battle with title rival Max Verstappen. After numerous unsuccessful attempts, he got past the Red Bull, but went off the track in doing so.

McLaren were confident that he was ahead at the apex so they allowed him to continue rather than instructing him to give the place back. This proved to be a mistake as Norris was handed a five-second penalty.

Piastri was inevitably gaining on his teammate as he went wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen. There was a prospect that he would fall to fifth, but McLaren intervened.

In an unbroadcast team radio message, engineer Tom Stallard told car number 81: “Lando has been given a five-second penalty. Can you back off by one second?”

Martin Brundle’s warning to McLaren over Oscar Piastri team orders

This is a landmark moment within the season. McLaren decided in Azerbaijan that they would favour Norris, who had a chance of winning the drivers’ title, but this is the first time they’ve implemented that policy.

Piastri heeded the instruction dutifully. He was lapping in the 1:38s and dipping into the low 1:37s in the closing stages, but he set a 1:39.1 on lap 53.

Norris had a better car than Piastri in Austin too, at least on paper. He was the first to receive McLaren’s new front wing, though they may need time to optimise their upgrades based on their performance.

Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle has warned McLaren about Piastri, fearing he could become another Rubens Barrichello if he’s not managed carefully. Barrichello never recovered ‘psychologically’ from playing second fiddle to Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in the early 2000s.