McLaren to hold team order talks ahead of do-or-die finale

McLaren will be holding team order discussions with both their drivers ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Andrea Stella has confirmed.

With both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in contention to be crowned world champion at the season finale this weekend, the team does not want to spring any surprises on the pair.

It is a three-driver battle for the title with Max Verstappen 12 points off Norris, and Piastri four behind the Red Bull driver.

Norris can win a maiden title by simply securing a podium finish this weekend while the permutations for Piastri are a little more complex.

For the Aussie to have a chance of becoming the first world champion since Alan Jones in 1980, Piastri must win the race and have Norris 6th or lower. If the 24-year-old finishes second he needs his teammate to finish at least 10th and hope Max Verstappen is not on the podium.

Verstappen will be champion for a fifth consecutive season if he wins and Norris is not on the podium.

Controversy and accusations of hypocrisy have marred the second half of McLaren’s season with some calling the team out for showing Norris preferential treatment.

Throughout the year, Zak Brown and Stella have insisted the drivers adhere to “papaya rules” meaning they can race but not crash into one another and always do what is best for the team.

However, ahead of last week's Qatar race, Piastri revealed he had been approached about helping Norris out.

So what will the strategy in Abu Dhabi be?

If for example Max is leading the race with Piastri in second and Norris 4th, with the latter needing a podium finish to be world champion, will team orders come into effect? And, moreover, will Piastri comply?

"I think whatever call we make in terms of using the collaboration of our drivers, it will have to follow some of our fundamental principles, which are foundational to our approach,” Stella said after the Qatar Grand Prix.

"We want to be fair to our drivers, we want to race with integrity, and we want to race in a way that doesn't surprise our drivers.

"So, between now and Abu Dhabi, there will be further conversations with Lando and Oscar. We will confirm our racing approach.”

His comments are somewhat ambiguous and allow widespread interpretation of what McLaren will ultimately do.

But it seems that ultimately, If Max is ahead and towards the end of the race, if Norris is the only Mclaren with a shot at the title, Piastri will be expected to make that happen.

"What I can say is that: If any of the drivers is in condition to pursue the quest to win the title, then we will respect this, and there will be no call which excludes the other driver when the other driver is in condition to win.

"So we will see what scenario will unfold. But definitely, what I can say is that there will be conversations, and there will be a way of going racing which is united between the team and the drivers, like we have always done.

"We will leave both Oscar and Lando the possibility to compete and pursue their aspiration. "Oscar, from a points point of view, is definitely in condition to win the title.”

This three-driver race to the title marks the first time in 15 years that the championship has gone down to the final race.

The scenario for McLaren is eerily similar to the 2007 season when a rookie Lewis Hamilton teamed up with Fernando Alonso and surprised almost everyone on the grid with how competitive he was.

As they both claimed victories through the season and went toe-to-toe in the title race, one Kimi Räikkönen was creeping up on them both before eventually being crowned world champion after a series of devastating crashes in the final three races for McLaren.

Raikkonen won the title on 110 points with the McLaren duo both on 109.

"We have seen before in the history of Formula 1 that when you have this kind of situation, sometimes it is the third one who actually wins,” Stella added.

"We have seen it in 2007, in 2010, and Oscar is fast. I think he deserves to be able to realise his performance.

"We will let the drivers be in condition to race each other. But above all, what's important for us is that we are in condition to beat Verstappen with one of our two drivers."