Formula 1: Should McLaren reverse course after Baku decision?

A strong overall performance from McLaren in Baku saw them take control of the constructor championship from Red Bull, ending Red Bull's 55-race run at the top. While everyone saw it coming a while ago, Zak Brown and Andrea Stella also opted before the weekend to aid Lando Norris in his quest for a first world championship.

However, a blunder from the British driver in qualifying saw him finish P17 and start the race from P15. Though he recovered well and made it up to P4, he only managed to outscore Max Verstappen by three points. With just seven races to go this season, Norris is 59 points behind the Dutchman, meaning he must make up at least 8.43 points per race weekend, which is a difficult task.

With Norris having a tough task ahead of him, it brings up the question as to whether using team orders is necessary anymore. Oscar Piastri has been so good this season, as evidenced by another win in Baku, and it is certainly very difficult to ask him to be Valtteri Bottas when Norris is simply not Lewis Hamilton.

Is it time to remove team orders already?

Though Stella insists the team’s focus is on securing both championships, reverting to “Papaya Rules” seems to make the most sense. Norris does not have much of a chance of winning the world championship unless he manages to put up big results while Verstappen endures DNFs.

With Piastri being closer to Norris than the British driver is to Verstappen, the Australian driver should be allowed to try to catch his teammate in the championship. Having outscored Norris by 12 points this past weekend in Baku and having placed higher than his teammate in six of the eight most recent races, it seems that Piastri can finish as high as P2 in the standings this season.

The McLaren team boss may reassess the team’s state in both championships after the Singapore Grand Prix in Marina Bay this weekend. If Piastri finds himself in front of Norris yet again, abandoning team orders will be best for the team.

After all, Norris has had several opportunities to gain more points and wins over Verstappen over the last few months, but he has simply been unable to convert aside from his win in Zandvoort. If anything, the blame lies on Norris for consistently being unable to maintain his leads from pole position after the first lap.

McLaren securing this season’s constructor championship will undoubtedly give both drivers an added sense of motivation to fight for the driver title. This season will give Stella, Brown, Norris, and Piastri a lot to learn from, and they will likely find themselves better prepared for the challenges of Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes moving forward.