Will Buxton criticizes McLaren team dynamics after Charles Leclerc’s Italian Grand Prix win

McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished second and third in the Italian Grand Prix respectively. However, senior Formula 1 journalist Will Buxton criticized the British team's decision to not swap their drivers at the end.

Starting P1 and P2 for the race at Monza, the McLaren drivers were looking strong ahead of both the Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG racers. The team had been the fastest throughout the weekend. On lap 1, Piastri overtook Norris for the lead in the race. The former also upset the latter's balance out of the corner, allowing Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to jump ahead of the young Briton.

While Norris was lapping faster than Piastri at one point, McLaren decided against swapping positions, most likely to avoid losing a place to the fast-approaching Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-AMG). In the end, it was Leclerc who took the lead and win away from the McLaren duo.

The seeming lack of opportunity to fight for P1 affected Norris' result in the driver's championship, allowing Max Verstappen breathing space at the top. Sky Sports F1 correspondent Will Buxton criticized McLaren's team dynamics during a post-race interaction.

"You know, if you've got a 1-2 in the race, you're protecting that 1-2 because you're looking at the constructor's points that you want to bring in. And you then have to decide which of your drivers is more likely to win the World Championship," Buxton commented (0:00 onwards).

"How are you not prioritizing the guy who's going to make most out of this? How do you not even swap them on the last lap just to get a couple more points? Because you're not talking about giving away a victory at this point. It's a second place," he added, criticizing McLaren's decision to not swap places (0:26 onwards).

With just eight races remaining in the 2024 F1 season, Buxton hoped McLaren would avoid similar situations.

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A brief look at McLaren's position in both the driver's and constructor's standing as of now

Since the start of the 2024 Formula 1 season, McLaren has been looking quite strong in both the driver's and constructor's table. The team began challenging the reigning champion duo of Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing from the Japanese Grand Prix onwards.

The Papaya Orange outfit's move to bring crucial updates early seems to have paid off. The team has managed to win three Grand Prix so far (Miami and Dutch GP with Lando Norris and Hungarian GP with Oscar Piastri) and has multiple podium finishes.

This has allowed the team to catch up with the leaders in both championships. As of now, McLaren is standing second in the constructor's table, just eight points behind Red Bull Racing.

Meanwhile, Norris and Piastri are placed second and fourth in the driver's championship, behind Verstappen and Charles Leclerc respectively.