Team chemistry is a fragile aspect of motorsports where a driver is touted as the first and the other as the second. It is not rare for teammates to be at each other’s necks, just like McLaren had back in the 2007 season where two-time world champion Fernando Alonso butted head with rookie Lewis Hamilton. But now, McLaren has devised a solution for their “two number one” drivers.
Norris and Piastri took home their first career victories this season and played an important part in McLaren’s 10-podium finish streak that dated back to the Chinese Grand Prix in April.
McLaren’s surge in performance, coupled with Sergio Pérez’s drop in form, has allowed the Woking-based outfit to rapidly close to Red Bull in the constructors’ championship summit with only 42 points separating them. Norris also sits second in the drivers’ championship with 78 points separating him from leader Max Verstappen.
Despite the team’s massive points collection in the last couple of weeks, Piastri’s maiden victory during the Hungarian Grand Prix was marred by team order controversy which saw Norris having to give up the lead after initially losing it to his Australian teammate at the start.
Team CEO Zak Brown is keen to avoid a repeat of such a scenario and mentioning the culture fostered under Andrea Stella’s leadership will minimize this occurrence from happening in the future. Brown is firm on his decision to have equal driver status for the time being.
“Relationships, communication, and the two individuals that we have. make no mistake about it. They both want to be number ones and they are both number ones. We just don’t have any number twos.“
McLaren will be walking on a thin line with both drivers on equal terms, but Brown is confident that his drivers know of the boundaries and are capable of showing respect to one another.
“They race for the team. They’re the types of individuals I think can race each other hard and be number one in their own mind and respect the fact that we run two number-one cars.“
Despite opting for equality, McLaren is open to the thought of prioritizing either driver should the situation in the drivers’ championship change. Piastri is closer to Norris with 32 points behind, while Norris is farther to Verstappen with 78 points behind. But for the time being, Brown is happy with the current approach.
“Obviously, if you get later into the championship and one driver has more of a shot than another, then you might start looking at things that you do strategically differently.”
“But we treat them equally. They know that; they enjoy that, and they respect our decisions when we sometimes need to make some concessions. They’re very respectful of that. So I think we’re fortunate and lucky to have the two individuals that we have.”
Managing the high-flying Norris and Piastri may be one of Brown and Stella’s toughest challenges yet, but McLaren’s workforce culture, coupled with their “aggresive but fair” approach, Brown feels his team can go all the way.
“I think cultures kind of build themselves. You set the direction and tone, but then you can’t force it.“
“Andrea and I, and everyone here, we’re racers. We’re fair, we’re pretty aggressive in our pursuit of performance. But in a fair, not win-at-all-costs way. I think that’s how the team is as well, so it’s a great garage environment.“
