McLaren follow Nico Rosberg’s advice with clear team order plan sanctioned

Warned they risk a “fall-out” between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri unless they set out “a very clear plan pre-race”, Andrea Stella insists that’s the plan going forward.

Emerging as genuine contenders, perhaps even with a shot at the championship, McLaren are having to manage two young drivers who are both quick enough to win in the right car.

McLaren vow to take Nico Rosberg’s advice on board

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

However, they fell short in their first big test in Hungary when the team gave Norris the undercut on race leader Piastri in the second round of pit stops and then spent 20 laps convincing him to give the lead back to his team-mate.

2016 World Champion Rosberg, who is well aware of the team order game and the fall-out that can follow, warned McLaren they need to lay out a “very clear plan pre-race” and then “stick to it” with “clear instructions” as that’s the “only way to do it.”

He added to Sky F1: “That’s going to be a learning that they now need to go through very quickly, otherwise, they risk an internal fall-out also between the drivers.”

Team boss Stella has taken Rosberg’s advice on board and says from Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix onwards, McLaren will have a pre-race plan in place.

“I think one point that we definitely take on board is that we should have prepared the situation better before the race so that you never find yourself preparing the flight plan as you fly,” he told the media including PlanetF1.com.

“Carrying this golden rule in any kind of challenging situation, this is the responsibility of the team. It’s my responsibility.

“We entered the race [Hungary] and we planned many, many things but this one actually was left undiscussed let’s say, so this is definitely something we take on board as a team.

“We already had a few meetings together with the drivers like what are the situation guys we might have not discussed already, so let’s keep adding it.

“But what I would like to stress is the quality of this conversation is how constructive these conversations are, at least with Oscar, with Lando, and with all the other engineers.

“As part of these constructive conversations we also sort of realised that Lando needed a few laps to realise the situation, it’s also a new situation for Lando fighting for a championship and I think he just needed to realise ‘what does it mean for me’ in the car, and I think his dialogue assisted this reflection.

“I had 100% confidence that the people that the race would finish in the right order. I think it’s a little bit of a missed opportunity for Lando because if he swapped immediately he would have had 20 laps actually to fight for the win. But again, this was dealt with serenity.”

Who’s on top in the McLaren intra-team battle?

?F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

?F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Stella believes McLaren’s Hungarian GP trial was just another step in the team’s building process, the team applauding Norris’ reaction to his team-mate’s win even in the face of his own disappointment.

“I would also highlight that Lando straight away communicated on the in-lap, message for the team, all the media, the direct conversation with Oscar and with the team here at the track he honoured Oscar’s victory, he acknowledged that was a victory gained on the ground.

“That’s what we like to see. And that’s, you know, we say at McLaren internally what’s important is that we keep building, building, and building.

“And sometimes when you have a tree falling, even if it’s very loud, actually, what’s important is to think about the forest growing, which is silent. And sometimes this tree falling gives you so much information to help the forest grow.

“So this is my takeaway, which I share with you pretty openly, but that’s a good reflection of the culture we have at McLaren.”

Stella and the rest of the McLaren pit wall could be in for another test at the Belgian Prix with Norris lining up fourth on the grid with Piastri P5. But having shown impressive race pace in the dry on Friday, even Max Verstappen says McLaren should be quickly into the lead.

Read next: Belgian GP predictions: Another McLaren 1-2, Verstappen podium, Hamilton P6