Lando Norris has confirmed that McLaren has made no \u201cmajor changes\u201d to its policy of splitting strategies ahead of this weekend\u2019s Dutch Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
It comes after the team was accused by fans of favouring Norris over Oscar Piastri after the former utilised an alternative one-stop strategy to defeat his team-mate in Hungary.<\/p>\n
Lando Norris: \u2018No major changes\u2019 to McLaren split-strategy policy<\/p>\n
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n
Piastri and Norris arrive in the Netherlands separated by just nine points at the summit of the Drivers\u2019 standings as the F1 2025 season resumes this weekend.<\/p>\n
Norris claimed victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix earlier this month after turning to a one-stop strategy following a poor start.<\/p>\n
The decision vaulted Norris into the lead, with the 25-year-old beating Piastri \u2013 on a more conventional two-stop strategy \u2013 to the chequered flag by just 0.698 seconds.<\/p>\n
Norris\u2019s victory in Hungary came just seven days after he was fitted with the more durable hard tyre in Belgium, where Piastri won on mediums.<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri vs Lando Norris: McLaren head-to-head scores for F1 2025<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com in Hungary, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella denied that the team\u2019s strategy was unfair<\/a> on Piastri, admitting the team viewed the two-step as the favoured choice and \u201cdidn\u2019t think necessarily that the one-stop was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaren is set to win its first Drivers\u2019 title since 2008 this season, with Piastri currently holding a 97-point advantage over Red Bull driver and reigning World Champion Max Verstappen in third.<\/p>\n Asked if McLaren has considered changing its policy of allowing its drivers to split strategies to prevent potential controversies as the title race hots up, Norris insisted that his Hungarian Grand Prix win was \u201ca bit of an outlier\u201d as he did not expect to be challenging for victory.<\/p>\n And he admitted that both Norris and Piastri are keen to ensure that they retain freedom to race each other \u2013 including from a strategic perspective.<\/p>\n He told media including PlanetF1.com at Zandvoort: \u201cNo, I think at the minute things have not really changed.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Budapest was a bit of an outlier. My decision to go on to the one stop was more [about getting back into podium contention than chasing the win].<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019d have to be pretty daft if I was to box, after everyone else ahead of me had boxed, just to follow suit and do nothing different. You don\u2019t need to even be smart to do something different.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was more to get ahead of George [Russell] to give myself an opportunity to be ahead of him at that point \u2013 not necessarily to try and win the race at that point.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was pretty amazing that it turned out that way and was a perfect result.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t make that decision at the time thinking: \u2018OK, this is my race and I can try and win it now.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it was not a perfect harmonic race between us as a team because it didn\u2019t kind of fall exactly into the place of what we would normally go by.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the same time, I think it was just an example of what can happen in racing sometimes.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we both want, as drivers, things not to be overly strict and we don\u2019t want to just not be able to race, because we\u2019re also here as individuals to race and improve [and find out] who can do a better job.<\/p>\n \u201cSo of course there were discussions. There\u2019s been reviews of things all along the season.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery race we make tweaks to things and we have a good understanding as a team. That happens every time. That happened after Budapest.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no major changes, but we still have a Constructors\u2019 Lando Norris addresses key McLaren question after ‘unfair’ Oscar Piastri theory to win and that\u2019s priority at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n More on Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Lando Norris news<\/a><\/p>\n