McLaren warned against ‘robbing’ F1 fans with team order ‘theatre’

McLaren have been warned against creating “theatre” and “robbing” F1 fans with team orders during the remainder of the season.

The British squad caused a stir by ordering Oscar Piastri to cede second place to teammate and championship rival Lando Norris in the closing stages of the Italian Grand Prix.

A slow pit stop due to a wheel gun issue saw Norris drop behind Piastri, who had pitted a lap earlier to protect against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a move that broke the normal convention of stopping the lead car first.

This prompted McLaren to instruct Piastri to give up the place - and with it three championship points - in a call which has divided the F1 paddock. With eight races left to determine the outcome of the title fight, Piastri has seen his championship advantage cut down to 31 points.

Former F1 driver Robert Doornbos has warned McLaren they have set a worrying precedent.

“It feels, as a fan, that you’re robbed,” Doornbos told The Pit Talk Podcast.

“The worst situations we’ve ever seen was obviously Ferrari and in the Michael Schumacher era with Rubens Barrichello, driving his a** off in Austria.

“Almost winning for Ferrari before Jean Todt then came on the radio and said: ‘Give the position to Michael’. But Michael was already leading the world championship with, I don’t know how many points, so it made no sense.

“That was sad, because then the fans started booing because, what were they watching? [It was] like a theatre.

“Just before the finish line, Michael gets the position and wins it, and then on the podium, he gives the first-place position again to Rubens.

“It was a mess, it was just bad publicity for F1.

“Luckily we haven’t had that in recent years, but now McLaren is going in that way, because they’re trying to orchestrate it.

“What happens, in the next race, if there’s a slow stop for Oscar, but he’s two positions behind Lando in the race? Is Lando going to wait for him then to give the position back?”

McLaren facing backlash 

While both Piastri and Norris downplayed the controversy of McLaren’s team orders, plenty of F1 observers have been left unimpressed.

David Coulthard has accused McLaren of “manipulating” the Italian Grand Prix, while former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone believes the team want Norris to win the title.

“They keep talking about fairness. But is it fair for Piastri to be penalised for a team mistake? No,” Ecclestone said.

“You slowly get the feeling that McLaren prefers a world champion named Lando Norris. Mistakes like missed pit stops, engine failures, and suspension failures may have become less common, but they’re part of the sport.”