Daniel Ricciardo once faced the same question as Oscar Piastri about favouritism at McLaren

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McLaren were repeatedly accused by outsiders of favouring Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri last season. Piastri himself always said he was given equal opportunity.

McLaren firmly denied that Norris received preferential treatment before winning the championship. He finished 13 points clear of Piastri, who ultimately placed third.

Some F1 paddock insiders felt McLaren were unfair to Piastri, who was on the wrong side of contentious team order calls in Italy and Singapore.

Norris, who joined McLaren in 2019, had comfortably been the team’s lead driver for four years. Before Piastri’s arrival, he saw off Daniel Ricciardo with relative ease.

How Daniel Ricciardo responded when McLaren favoured Lando Norris with upgrade

Ricciardo was only a couple of spots behind Norris in the 2021 standings (P8 vs P6). Though he delivered the team’s first victory since 2012 at the Italian GP, the gap at the end of the season was still 45 points.

But in 2022, Ricciardo went backwards. Heading into the Singapore GP round 17 out of 22 – he had scored just 19 points to Norris’ 88.

McLaren rushed through updated sidepods and a new floor as they battled Alpine for fourth in the championship. Norris received the parts at Marina Bay, while Ricciardo, who had already lost his seat for the following year, was made to wait, but rejected the notion of bias.

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“Lando’s got it,” Ricciardo told The Race at the time. “There’s only, just with time and whatever, [so many] resources ultimately, we’ll both have it in Japan, but this weekend it’s just him.

“And I guess the next question is, ‘Why him?’. A lot of it as well is development in the direction of 2023, so it’s pretty much that. Obviously he’s here next year, I’m not, so for him to get another weekend to give the team feedback and direction for next year, that’s ultimately the reason.”

One could argue that, although Ricciardo was on his way out, he was entitled to receive equal parts, particularly because he was fighting for his own F1 career at the time.

But it’s noteworthy that there was never any bitterness on Ricciardo’s part, even though the high-profile move was a failure. While the circumstances are different, he seemed to reluctantly accept the team’s decision-making, just like Piastri.

Every team order McLaren issued during Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo partnership

McLaren also dealt out team orders equitably across the two years. At the 2021 Emilia Romagna GP, Ricciardo was asked to move over for Norris, who ultimately finished on the podium.

However, Norris then returned the favour at the Spanish GP, which helped Ricciardo to bag a P6.

At Monza, the British driver was told not to attack his teammate in order to protect their eventual one-two. McLaren were concerned that a collision could scupper a dream result.

And in Baku the following year, both were instructed to hold position at various points despite suggesting that they were quicker than the sister car.

The optics may have been awkward at times, but there has never been any firm indication that McLaren want Norris to succeed at his teammate’s expense.