F1 Q&A: Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Alonso, McLaren, Norris, Piastri and Red Bull

Did McLaren make a mistake in not letting Lando Norris become the number one driver earlier, which potentially would have put him in charge of becoming driver and constructor champion? – Tracy

It is debatable – to say the least – whether favoring Norris first would have made him world champion, as there were in fact very few occasions when McLaren could do so, as he was usually ahead of Oscar Piastri.

The obvious ones are Hungary and Monza.

At Budapest, Norris was on pole, but Piastri took the lead at the first corner, and then there was the issue of whether Norris should let Piastri pass, because the way the team raced, the strategy allowed Norris to overtake.

It would have been too harsh for Piastri to put Norris ahead – he had won. But let’s say they do – that’s seven more points for Norris.

At Monza, there is a strong argument to say that McLaren should not have allowed him to race on the first lap, as Piastri’s brilliant passing move on Norris at turn four ended with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc finishing ahead of Norris. Reached second place, from where he won.

It is impossible to know whether or not McLaren would have won if this had not happened, as Ferrari would still have cheated them with the one-stop. But even if Norris had won instead of finishing third, that’s an extra 10 points.

Verstappen finished 63 points ahead of Norris. So it’s hard to argue that team orders in these two events would have made Norris champion – they won’t.

But that doesn’t mean McLaren doesn’t think there’s something to be learned from the way he’s handled this season.

McLaren Racing chief executive Jack Browne was asked before the race in Abu Dhabi last weekend whether he thought it would have been better to side with Norris in the first place.

He said: “No. I don’t regret things. I learn and say, ‘I would have done it differently.’ Otherwise you are living in a series of regrets.

“It was tough, because Oscar was never that far behind Lando (in the championship). We started getting noises that we should favor Lando right in the middle of the season, which was really too early.

“I think what we learned was, like, at Monza we went first and second into turn four and came first and third, but the instructions we gave them were more vague. It was subjective, it was: ‘Don’t risk. Take’.

“So Lando was thinking, ‘I don’t need to stop so strictly because I don’t need to take risks.’ And Oscar was thinking: ‘Hey, I feel like the door’s wide open.’

“Ultimately, we could have been more certain, ‘How you enter turn four, how you have to come out of turn four. Clear everybody out and then go race.’

“I like to let our guys race. But if I look at Monza, that’s what we learned. We need to be more certain, because a driver’s view of what is risky is subjective. “