10/09/2025

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | SEPT 10, 2025

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Team orders about fairness for McLaren

Precedent ‘difficult to undo’

Max hailed ‘the driver of this age’ by Hill “We want to try and be in this position for a longer period of time … without the team then we’re just fighting for 10th and none of us want that. The team and morale, the spirit of the team, is priority and we’re below that.” – Reuters MAX VERSTAPPEN has been hailed as a“phenomenon”and “the driver of this age”by Damon Hill following the four-time world champion’s crushing win in Italy. Verstappen delivered Red Bull’s first victory of the post Christian Horner era at Monza’s Temple of Speed on Sunday, taking the chequered flag 19.2 seconds clear of runner-up Lando Norris. Red Bull’s stranglehold on Formula One has long since evaporated, with McLaren the dominant force of this sea son’s field, but Verstappen turned in a masterclass in his sub par machinery. The Dutch driver’s Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda crossed the line in 13th, an eye-watering 80 seconds behind. “I know I have been critical of some of his passing and tactics but there is no getting away from the fact that Max Verstappen is the driver of this age,” 1996 world champion Hill posted on X . “He is a cut above in almost every respect. A phenome non, actually. Nice job this weekend, Max.” Verstappen’s 66th career win marks only his third of a tur bulent season for Red Bull following Horner’s dismissal as team principal and CEO a few days after the British Grand Prix in July. Although Verstappen was advised by the Red Bull pit wall to concede his lead to Norris when he ran off the track at the opening Variante del Rettifilo – which he duly did – the 27 year-old was back ahead on the fourth lap and from there he never looked back. “This was an unbelievable weekend,” said Verstappen, with Laurent Mekies celebrating his first win as Red Bull team principal watching on. “It was a great day for us. “The first lap was a bit unlucky but after that we were fly ing. The car was really enjoyable. “I could manage the pace quite well throughout that first stint and we pitted at the right time, so a fantastic execution by everyone. The whole weekend, we were on it.” Verstappen’s first victory since he triumphed in Imola on May 18 leaves him 94 points adrift of championship leader Oscar Piastri. – The Independent Ű BY PHILIP DUNCAN MCLAREN team boss Andrea Stella said a team orders con troversy in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix was about putting McLaren’s racing values first as well as fairness. The reigning Formula One champions and runaway lead ers asked Oscar Piastri to hand back second place to team mate Lando Norris after the Briton suffered a slow pitstop through no fault of his own. The decision, accepted by both drivers, cut the Australian’s overall lead to 31 points from 34. The pair are effectively the only drivers fighting for the title, such is their advantage over the rest. “The pitstop situation is not only a matter of fairness, it’s a matter of consistency with our principles,” Stella told reporters. “However the championship goes, what’s important is that the championship runs within the principles, and the racing values that we have are clear.” Stella said the pitstops were dictated by strategy, with Piastri coming in first despite Norris being ahead on track and normally having priority. This was because McLaren had wanted to cover Piastri from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc behind him in fourth and were also waiting until the last moment to pit in case a safety car was deployed. “We pursued the team interest … the clear intent was that this is not going to deliver a swap of positions,” added Stella, who worked at Ferrari through the Michael Schumacher era when team orders were commonplace in the German’s favour. “We thought it was absolutely the right thing to go back to the situation pre-existing the pitstops and then let the guys race. This is what we think is in compliance with our principles.” Piastri told reporters it was important to protect every one in the team, including the pit crew, to have the best chance of long-term success and Norris agreed. “The team is number one, then the drivers are second. That’s how it works,” said the Briton. “Normally when you see teams who don’t have enough respect for the team and the opportunities the team gives, it (success) doesn’t normally last long.

Wolff warns McLaren after Piastri told to move aside for Norris in Monza

Ű BY PHILIP DUNCAN

“For us, we had two different animals in the car in Lewis and Nico. They were two fierce combatants that took no prison ers racing against each other, and at times it was very difficult to manage for the team. “Lewis was a world champion, and we had two lions in the car that went at each other’s throats. I don’t see that at McLaren.” Wolff’s Mercedes trail McLaren by 357 points in the constructors’ standings. George Russell started and finished fifth at the Temple of Speed but Kimi Antonelli crossed the line in ninth, having begun the race three places higher. He was handed a five-second penalty for squeezing Williams’ Alex Albon off the track. Earlier in the weekend, he beached his Mercedes in the gravel in second practice. The Italian 19-year-old, who replaced Hamilton at Mercedes, has scored just three times in his last 10 appearances, and is 128 points behind teammate Russell in the standings. And when asked about Antonelli’s display, Wolff said: “Underwhelming. You cannot put the car in the gravel, and expect to be there, and all of the race was underwhelming. “It doesn’t change anything in terms of my support and confi dence and his future because I believe he is going to very, very, very good but today was underwhelming.

M ERCEDES boss Toto Wolff (above) has warned McLaren they have set a precedent which is “very difficult to undo” after ordering Oscar Piastri aside for world championship rival Lando Norris in Italy on Sunday. A slow pit-stop for Norris saw him drop from second to third behind teammate Piastri before McLaren told their drivers to swap positions. McLaren’s contentious decision allowed Norris to move within 31 points of Piastri with eight rounds remaining. Norris, who was booed by

the tifosi as he collected his runners-up trophy on the Monza podium, said it was “pretty stupid” to suggest a precedent had now been laid down by McLaren. However, Wolff, who oversaw Lewis Hamilton’s fractious intra-team rivalry with Nico Rosberg, said: “There is no right and there is no wrong, and I’m curious to see how that pans out. You set a precedent that is very difficult to undo and to man age. “What if the team makes another mistake and it’s not a pit-stop, do you switch them around? “But equally, because of a team mistake, making a driver that is trying to catch up lose the points, is not fair either. “So we are going to get our response of whether that was right today towards the end of the season when it heats up.

“It is about freeing him up. He is a great driver and has unbelievable and natural tal ent. It is all there. But we need to get rid of the ballast and baggage of previous races.” – The Independent

McLaren’s Lando Norris (left) and teammate Oscar Piastri . – REUTERSPIC

Hamilton casts doubt over podium for Ferrari

Ű BY KIERAN JACKSON

we’re fourth. “A podium here or there? There’s a chance to have that at some point. But in terms of pure pace, we don’t have that.” Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur has no doubt the Briton will get on the podium before the end of the season. “Yes, we can expect him to be on the podium,” said the Frenchman, who had also expected Ferrari to be on the podium at Monza. “I think the energy he received from the tifosi in Milano was something very special for him,” Vasseur said of Hamilton. “It was something mega and I think this gave him an extra boost all over the weekend.” Vasseur said the gap to McLaren, beaten by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on Sunday, had been close all weekend. “I think we were in better shape this week end, not enough because they are in front of us, but I think at least we closed the gap,”he added. “I think we have a couple of tracks where we are supposed to be also in good shape, starting with the next one. We are historically always in

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton gestures to fans in Monza. – AFPPIC

LEWIS HAMILTON admits he “does not think” Ferrari have the pace to compete for a podium in the remaining eight races of the season. Hamilton, having started 10th due to a five place grid penalty, finished Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix in sixth and acknowledged it was a “solid drive” at his first Monza race as a Scuderia driver. However, it means the 40-year-old is still without a top-three finish after 16 rounds this season. His best result in a grand prix has been fourth, with a sprint race victory in China back in March. There are eight rounds left this year but Hamilton, particularly after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed a dominant victory, was pessimistic when asked about his chances over the remaining three months. When asked about being competitive over the season’s remainder, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: “I don’t think so, Charles (Leclerc, fin ished fourth) was giving it everything, Max is up there now. “We don’t have the pace of Red Bull, today they were rapid, or McLaren, abd currently

good shape in Baku. “But for sure the goal is to finish P2 in the championship. McLaren is on another planet.”– The Independent/Reuters