Max Verstappen responds to McLaren issuing team orders to aid Lando Norris' title campaign

Max Verstappen feels that the decision to implement team orders on Oscar Piastri to aid Lando Norris is something that's on McLaren. The Woking-based squad was caught red-faced in the F1 Italian GP, where the Australian driver had pulled off an aggressive maneuver on his British counterpart, and the evasive action from the driver had cost Norris another position.

As a result, the race in Monza saw Norris start the race from pole position but finish only in P3. What that also did was that instead of maximizing the opportunity to eat into Verstappen's championship lead, Piastri's move potentially cost Norris 10 extra points. This was after McLaren had very publicized rules of engagement prepared called Papaya Rules.

Heading into the F1 Azerbaijan GP, it does appear that McLaren has made a few course corrections that include implementing team orders. Piastri would now try to aid Norris in his bid to challenge Verstappen for the title.

The new development was put forward to the Dutch driver by the media, who said that at the end of the day, the decision was always going to be down to the team. Verstappen said (via Racingnews365):

"Ultimately I'm not disappointed about it. Of course they do what they want and it's not my problem. I have my own problems at the moment. If you look at it from Oscar's perspective, he's closer to Lando than Lando is to me. They have to deal with that."

He added:

"They (Norris and Piastri) were not far apart, also in the championship. Oscar came in as the first driver and I don't think he is the type to be labeled as the second driver."

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Oscar Piastri on team orders being implemented in Lando Norris' bid to beat Max Verstappen

Oscar Piastri was questioned about the implementation of team orders and the Australian did admit that as an individual it is not ideal. At the same time, however, he added that looking at McLaren's journey, if he can be of help, then he would surely do it.

Piastri was quoted as saying (via Racingnews365):

"It's obviously something we've talked about a lot in the last few days. Selfishly, as a driver, team orders are never fun. But I do realize that there's a bigger picture than just me. I'm racing for a team that has given me the chance to fight for victories in Formula 1 within 18 months. I'm very grateful for that. We're trying to win both championships as a team and that's something that would be a huge achievement for the team."

Max Verstappen currently leads Lando Norris by 62 points. The latter driver will be eager to extract a bigger haul of points this weekend.