{"id":140279,"date":"2025-09-13T13:53:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T13:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/140279\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T13:53:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T13:53:13","slug":"why-norris-v-piastri-conspiracy-theories-fuelled-by-f1-fans-make-zero-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/140279\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Norris v Piastri conspiracy theories fuelled by F1 fans make zero sense"},"content":{"rendered":"

McLaren has dominated the headlines in the wake of its late position switch between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at Monza, perhaps not without merit as the team looks to be as fair to its drivers as possible.<\/p>\n

What this has fuelled, however, is online theories that the team is favouring Norris as both drivers go in pursuit of their first Drivers\u2019 title \u2013 which could not appear to be further from the truth.<\/p>\n

McLaren conspiracy theories addressed as Norris-Piastri title battle heats up<\/p>\n

Put simply, McLaren \u2013 as with every team on the grid \u2013 has its main goal in the season: To win the Constructors\u2019 Championship. Everything beyond that is a bonus, but the Constructors\u2019 standings are where the prize money sits in Formula 1.<\/p>\n

For the two drivers who get the team to that position, however, it is all about individual glory in the Drivers\u2019 Championship. The sport has always been, and always will be, a delicate balance between drivers who are, ultimately, gunning for victory on their own, but needing the support of their respective teams to do so, whose goal is all about winning for the collective.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the chequered flag falling at Monza, our comments section here at PlanetF1.com and our social media channels have not been short of comments looking to relate the team\u2019s switch of drivers to some kind of \u2018preference\u2019 of Norris over Piastri in its dealings.<\/p>\n

The team has been forthright multiples times this season in saying it wants to treat both drivers as equally as possible, but Piastri\u2019s question to McLaren was a valid one at Monza, with Norris\u2019 slow stop putting him behind on the road and the Australian asking if it was simply a part of racing.<\/p>\n

As Andrea Stella explained after the race:\u00a0\u201cI think that the pit stop situation is not only a matter of fairness, it\u2019s a matter of consistency with our principles.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever the championship goes, what\u2019s important is that the championship runs within the principles and the racing values that we have at McLaren, and that we have created together with our drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just done because we were covering Leclerc, and at the same time, we were waiting until the last possible moment to see if there had been a red flag or a safety car.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we pursued the team interest, and to capitalise as much as possible on this interest, we needed to go first with Oscar, then with Lando. But, clear intent was, this is not going to deliver a swap of positions.<\/p>\n

How the F1 2025 battles are heating up<\/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

\u201cSo the fact that we went first with Oscar, compounded by the slow pit stop of Lando, then led to a swap of positions, and we thought it was absolutely the right thing to go back to the situation, pre-existing at the pit stop, and then let the guys race.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what we did, and this is what we think is in compliance with our principles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will review the case. We will review also the situation whereby it was a slow pit stop in isolation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already have our principles in relation to that. We will review our principles in relation to that and reinforce the direction, if this is in agreement with our drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In agreeing to move aside, with the near-drama of Hungary 2024 being used as an example in getting Piastri to cede position, the slate should theoretically be wiped clean from here \u2013 but as the title fight begins to simmer, McLaren taking more of a \u2018hands-off\u2019 approach to its drivers should be high on the agenda.<\/p>\n

McLaren has the chance to win the Constructors\u2019 Championship with seven races to spare in Baku next weekend and, once the main target for the season is achieved, all eyes will be on the team to see how it handles a close run-in.<\/p>\n

How a recent in-team title battle was handled at Mercedes<\/p>\n

As Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has explained, however, it is a difficult thing to have two teammates going all-out for the title, having experienced it three times himself with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.<\/p>\n

Where he explained how tough it could be to manage the two drivers he had, Wolff added his previous situation at Mercedes is different to what is unfolding at McLaren, but pointed to an imminent Constructors\u2019 Championship victory as the moment the Silver Arrows would add less direction to proceedings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we had two different animals in the car,\u201d Wolff said. \u201cLewis and Nico, they were two fierce combatants that took no prisoners racing against each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt times, very difficult to manage for the team. I don\u2019t see that at McLaren\u2026 it\u2019s a bit corporate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, first of all, where it was difficult for us in 2016, they were there for a long time. Lewis was a World Champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was two lions in the car that went at each other\u2019s throats. That\u2019s very different today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if I look at our situations, because I\u2019m not in the shoes of McLaren, back in the day, with the kind of gap you have where Constructors\u2019 Championship is guaranteed, you just let them race, but within the spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have your race fair and square, you don\u2019t touch. That\u2019s the rule. And if back in the day you touch, then we take control. That\u2019s what I would have done maybe better in 2016 rather than trying to overmanage with our racing intent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only scenario in which McLaren would gain by favouring one driver<\/p>\n

As a team, McLaren\u2019s main target for 2025 is almost sewn up, so what sense would it make in this instance to back one driver over another? Almost none.<\/p>\n

The only way in which such a conversation may become prudent is if a threat from elsewhere, such as Max Verstappen, begins to close in on the McLaren duo, and the team decides to take action to make absolutely sure that both titles return to Woking this season.<\/p>\n

Those with a long enough memory will remember the team has been been beaten to the punch at the last moment before when both drivers were fighting for the title, back in 2007.<\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were both slugging it out at the front, but Kimi Raikkonen stayed within a close enough distance to capitalise at the final opportunity to win his first and only title.<\/p>\n

The difference with that scenario this time, however, is that Verstappen is considerably further behind at this stage and, much like 2007, if both drivers are in with a chance of title glory in the closing rounds, neither is likely to want to cede ground.<\/p>\n

Both Norris and Piastri are on long-term contracts with McLaren so this line-up appears set for some time to come, the team has shown its faith in both drivers to perform and, as alluded to, the primary goal of the Constructors\u2019 title is almost sealed, so favouring one over another would be a case of the team cutting off its nose to spite its face \u2013 it would ultimately be meaningless.<\/p>\n

Read next:\u00a0Why Yuki Tsunoda\u2019s Red Bull F1 destiny is still something he can control<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"McLaren has dominated the headlines in the wake of its late position switch between Lando Norris and Oscar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,3874,818,1737,913,806,805,803,804,44,2333,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-140279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1-features","11":"tag-home-page","12":"tag-lando-norris","13":"tag-mclaren","14":"tag-motor","15":"tag-motor-sports","16":"tag-motosport","17":"tag-motosports","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-oscar-piastri","20":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}