Oscar Piastri has ruled out disobeying team orders if it risks damaging his internal standing and chance of winning titles with McLaren in future seasons.

Piastri was demoted from second to third at the Italian Grand Prix after the team instructed him to hand the place to teammate and title rival Lando Norris.

Norris had led Piastri for most of the grand prix before a slow pit stop seven laps from the finish dropped him behind the Australian.

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The McLaren pit wall decided to reverse the order of its drivers in the interests of fairness, with neither driver genuinely under threat from Charles Leclerc behind and no prospect of them catching Max Verstappen in the lead.

The decision ensured Norris took three points out of Piastri’s title lead, slicing the gap between them down to 31 points.

The move split opinion, including among its drivers, with Piastri debating the call over team radio before being instructed a second time to swap places.

“I think in the moment, obviously, I questioned it on the radio as racing drivers often do and as we get encouraged to do,” Piastri told ESPN. “But I think, for me, once I had the second request, for me at that point I’m always going to respect that call.”

But several commentators suggested that Piastri should have ignored outright the request to cede position. Some suggested that the sport’s most iconic greats, including Michael Schumacher and Max Verstappen, would not have tolerated being told to let their teammates through.

Verstappen scoffed over team radio after discovering the order of drivers behind him had been switched via team orders.

“Just because he had a slow stop?” he laughed to his engineer.

But Piastri said he wouldn’t dial up the ruthlessness in pursuit of his first world championship.

“Not at the cost of future success,” he said. “Definitely not.”

Piastri forced to give second place up | 01:18

McLaren boss Andrea Stella would find Piastri’s attitude to be a pleasing reflection of the values he’s worked hard to instil in his team as the team has risen rapidly up the ranks from 2023 backmarker to double title contender in 2025.

The Italian team principal has spoken at previous rounds about encouraging his drivers to speak their mind at all times to try to avoid the build-up of resentment and paranoia characteristic of title battles fought between teammates.

It’s an integral part of the team-first culture McLaren espouses and which both drives appear to have bought into wholeheartedly.

Stella summed up his policy at last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix after Norris needed to be convinced to hand victory back to Piastri following a similar strategic misstep.

“We talk about our principles, going racing,” he said at the time. One principle, just to make an example … is: the interest of the team comes first.

“If you mess up on this matter, you cannot be part of the McLaren Formula 1 team. That’s the principle.”

Piastri said discussions after the Italian Grand Prix had cleared the air and led to improvements in the team’s operations, with the Australian emphasising the importance of maintaining harmony inside the team to his own championship aspirations.

“We have had very good discussions this week about what went on and what can be made clearer, what can be improved,” Piastri continued.

“That’s always kind of a learning process, I guess. But yeah, ultimately I know that the team would have my best interests at heart.

“And ultimately, I want to protect that because I can’t have my own success without the team having success. So protecting that is a very important thing for me.”

Verstappen wins after McLaren pit chaos | 04:05

Speaking in Monza, the Australian reiterated his view that his and Norris’s title hopes were intrinsically tied to playing the team game.

“We don’t want the chance of success just for this year,” he said. “We want the best chance at winning championships for as long as we’re Formula 1 drivers, and we’re both at McLaren for a very long time.

“Protecting the people around us that give us this opportunity is a very important thing. It’s easy enough to put yourself second at times like that.

“Protecting the people, that includes the people doing the pit stops. It’s not a very nice feeling, I would imagine. It’s important to protect all the people that we have because that’s what gives us a championship hope for years to come.”

Norris said McLaren had learnt from blow-ups at other teams during championship battles.

“When you see [drivers] who don’t have enough respect for the team and the opportunities the team gives, it doesn’t normally last long,” he said. “You see that with plenty of other teams, whether it’s been Red Bull, Ferrari, or Mercedes.

“We want to try and be in this position for a longer period of time than what they have been at the top.

“It’s still early days – it’s only our second year of fighting for wins — but like Oscar said, the team gives us these opportunities. Without the team, then we’re just fighting for 10th, and none of us want that.

“Team and the morale, the spirit of the team, is priority, and we’re below that.”