Max Verstappen welcomed Oscar Piastri’s confirmation that McLaren will not implement team orders at the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend, telling the Australian that “a real winner and a racer” would “go for it” in their battle with championship Lando Norris.
With Norris leading both Verstappen and team-mate Piastri by 24 points heading into the penultimate weekend of the season, McLaren have said that they will not change their approach to help Norris over the line. When asked whether McLaren had talked about favouring Norris, Piastri confirmed: “We’ve had a very brief discussion and the answer is no. I’m still equal on points with Max.”
