McLaren’s drivers act like perfect teammates in an F1 title fight. It feels off

“These papaya rules are something else lmao… Oscar is a better man than me.”

Who knew Joel Embiid, a seven-time NBA All-Star with the Philadelphia 76ers, was a Formula One fan?

Embiid’s tweet offered good insight into the mindset of an elite athlete in response to McLaren’s call for Oscar Piastri to let his teammate – and title rival – Lando Norris overtake him in the closing stages of Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

The decision was made in the name of fairness, after Norris lost a place to Piastri due to a slow pit stop with seven laps to go. Piastri obliged, with a degree of frustration on his team radio. Speaking post-race, both the drivers and McLaren were satisfied they’d done the right thing.

But Embiid — and many F1 fans — struggled to comprehend the decision. Similar to his race-ending engine failure one week prior at Zandvoort, Norris had suffered some bad luck. The difference this time was McLaren could do something to rebalance the scales.

I wrote after the race at Monza about how admirable McLaren’s approach to this year’s title fight is, a credit to CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella for managing something that’s rarely been done before. They’re giving total freedom to their drivers to race while avoiding any like the famous blow-ups that litter F1 history.

Brown said the team’s strong culture, plus the individual characters of Piastri and Norris, meant it was possible. Piastri and Norris know they’ll be teammates for many years to come. Causing fractures by going against everything the team is preaching simply is not worth it.

Two things can be true. McLaren’s efforts should be applauded. But the absence of ruthlessness in this year’s fight for the world championship is going against so much that we know about F1. And sport, in fact.

Embiid and the majority of other athletes won’t be able to fully understand the odd dynamic of being an F1 driver, where you are playing for a team while also competing for your own individual honors. If you play football, basketball, baseball or soccer, personal success won’t come at the cost of any of your teammates, as they’ll still end up on the winning side in victory. It’s very different in F1.

But F1 history is filled with examples of drivers pushing that ‘line’ as much as possible, then crossing it by going against the wishes of their team for their own gain.

Look at Sebastian Vettel against Mark Webber (now Piastri’s manager and a key source of counsel) at the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix. Vettel ignored Red Bull’s team orders to hold position, overtaking Webber for the race win in the closing stages. Webber fumed afterwards, reminding Vettel in the cool-down room of the team instruction. But Vettel ultimately showed little contrition, later saying: “I was faster, I passed him, I won.”

Then there’s Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso’s infamous season as McLaren teammates in 2007, which ended with both losing out on the title to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. Alonso, the reigning two-time champion, was shocked by the rookie Hamilton. He deliberately waited in his pit box in qualifying in Hungary to spoil Hamilton’s qualifying, by which point Alonso’s relationship with McLaren had already soured. He ended up leaving McLaren after a single year (although would return for another stint in 2017-2018).

The list goes on. Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna at McLaren in 1988 and 1989. Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi for Ferrari at Imola in 1982. While more innocuous, Max Verstappen ignored a call to let Sergio Pérez pass at Brazil in 2022 to help the Mexican’s pursuit for second in the standings, briefly flaring tensions across the garage when he’d already long wrapped up the drivers’ crown. No wonder Verstappen laughed when he was told Piastri had let Norris pass on Sunday.

The best example of a recent title fight between teammates is Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s time as Mercedes teammates, where they went head-to-head for the title in 2014, 2015 and 2016. They collided at the 2014 Belgian GP (above) and twice in 2016, in Spain and Austria, breaking the ‘Golden Rule’ of racing: don’t hit your teammate.

Rosberg won his one and only title at the 2016 Abu Dhabi finale, albeit after Hamilton slowed down the field from the lead in a last-ditch and futile attempt to win the championship by trying to give the cars behind Rosberg a chance to overtake. Rosberg retired a just few days later, content with achieving his goal of becoming world champion.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was asked about managing that fight on Sunday at Monza. “We had two different animals in the car,” Wolff said. “Lewis and Nico were two fierce combatants that took no prisoners racing against each other. At times (it was) very difficult to manage for the team.

“I don’t see that at McLaren.”

He’s correct. Norris and Piastri are very different characters. They’re both young and chasing their first championship. They both got their F1 breaks thanks to McLaren. Importantly, they have both bought into the team’s culture, which means the mere thought of defying team orders goes against everything they’ve learned in F1 so far. Norris initially protested the similar call in Hungary last year before eventually letting Piastri pass. Piastri briefly questioned Sunday’s request, but then quickly made the switch.

The personal relationship between Norris and Piastri has only grown stronger through the course of the championship battle, according to Brown. They remain chatty when sharing news conference sofas after qualifying and race sessions. McLaren’s social media remains filled with videos of them together, debriefing each race after the checkered flag.

I like how cordial and friendly they are. It’s fun and sweet. But can you imagine Rosberg and Hamilton ever doing that in 2016? Heck no.

And that is why their title fights were so memorable: the needle and contention that lay between them. The same was true on a team level in 2021 between Mercedes and Red Bull, as Hamilton and Verstappen contested that championship and with the pair colliding multiple times on the track that year.

We remember championship battles because of the tension around them; for the moments where things spilled over. While I get the rationale behind what McLaren did at Monza, and have a lot of admiration for its policy, it feels difficult to get as hyped up about what might happen next as in previous years. The fun that comes with the drama has been defused.

That, of course, is by design for McLaren. It doesn’t race to please neutrals or to make headlines. It races to be as successful as possible. You therefore would not anticipate a shift in approach once the constructors’ championship is clinched, which could potentially happen as early as the next race in Baku. After that, there may be nothing for the team to lose, but for the sake of the values that Brown and Stella have ingrained, Norris and Piastri will need to keep being team players, although their personal title is all that is left to win.

Such harmony makes for a very different kind of championship fight. Piastri’s post-race suggestion that he wouldn’t regret giving Norris the place back even if, hypothetically, it cost him the title again would seem alien to the majority of athletes and many F1 drivers. To him, the team seemingly comes first.

The final eight races of 2025 will be tricky to navigate, especially if Piastri’s 31-point lead evaporates and we do get a situation in Abu Dhabi where going ‘rogue’ could make the difference for the championship. Sticking to the team’s requests and values will only get harder the longer and closer the title race gets. That’ll be a big test for Norris and Piastri to navigate, given that both are aware of the consequences it would have on the team and their futures if things get bitter.

F1 and sport thrive on controversy, as well as preconceptions being bent and challenged. In a choice between doing what is ‘right’ and winning, so many of the greats would go solely for the latter without question. It’s a ruthlessness that may be uncomfortable and can be morally hard to digest.

But if it gets them to their end goal, most would say it’s worth the price.

Norris and Piastri are fierce competitors, quick drivers, and deserving of their place in this year’s title fight. It’s been exciting and close, with fine margins making the difference. The lack of drama will suit McLaren, of course. But it doesn’t make for the kind of explosive championship fight so many neutrals dearly want.

Fair? Sure. But sport, like life, cannot always be fair. And trying to keep it that way is only going to get more uncomfortable for those involved and those watching.

(Top photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

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