Oscar Piastri clarifies Lando Norris team orders: 'I won't pull over at every race'

Oscar Piastri is adamant he won’t have to move over for McLaren teammate Lando Norris “at every race” in F1 2024.

Ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, McLaren boss Andrea Stella confirmed to the BBC that they will now adopt team orders in certain scenarios to support Norris’ championship bid.

Norris sits 62 points behind Max Verstappen in the drivers’ championship with eight rounds to go.

Given McLaren are the fastest team in F1 currently, combined with Red Bull’s dip in form, it’s feasible Norris could win this year’s world title.

As a result, McLaren will now favour Norris - but not all of the time.

Speaking to media in Baku, where Crash.net are present in the paddock, Piastri clarified the situation.

“It still needs some more discussion,” Piastri said. “I think the main point is that it’s not purely going to be me pulling over for Lando every single race because that’s how none of us, including Lando, want to go racing.

“Trying to go through all the scenarios is impossible and of course, we don’t want to discuss that publicly but I think the main one is if we feel that someone has done a much better job on a weekend, whatever way it is, we want that person to be rewarded.

“That’s where it becomes a little bit tricky still. We need to continue discussing that. It’s not simply a blanket ‘I am going to be behind Lando in every single race in every decision ever taken from here on out’ because I still have things I want to achieve in the championship, trying to boost my standing in the tdrivers’ championship.

“As a team, we’re not winning the constructors’ so we need to make sure we win that. So it’s very important we maintain that kind of trust.”

Assessing the team orders decision as a whole, Piastri admitted he has to think about the “bigger picture” for the team.

“It’s been something we’ve discussed a lot in the last few days,” he added. “Of course, selfishly as a driver and my own interests, team orders are not that fun. In saying that I realise there’s a much bigger picture here than just myself.

“I race for a team that’s given me my opportunity in F1 and a team that has given me the opportunity to win races in F1 within 18 months of being here. I have a lot of gratitude for that.

“Again, the bigger picture is about just more than me. We’re trying to achieve both championships which for the team is an incredibly big thing. Of course, the constructors’ is one thing but if you have the opportunity to win both championships then as a team, it’s a massive objective to try and achieve both.”