McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri insist they are aware of team rules when it comes to fighting one another during the Dutch Grand Prix.
Norris put in a stunning lap to take pole position in Zandvoort, while Piastri starts third with reigning world champion and local favourite Max Verstappen separating the pair.
Team orders have been a hot topic for the Woking squad recently after Norris was asked to let Piastri through for victory in Hungary, having initially undercut the Australian in the pits.
The championship-chasing Brit eventually did cede to his team-mate with CEO Zak Brown declaring before the return from the summer break that McLaren is running two number one drivers this season.
Piastri will be on the second row, directly behind Norris, when the lights go out on Sunday afternoon, but he revealed he was not planning to simply play rear-gunner in the Netherlands.
“If I can get myself into the lead, then that works well for me,” he said after initially greeting a question about supporting Norris to make sure he leads after the first lap.
“But, yeah, I mean, I think the start is always a good opportunity to make up ground if you can. Yeah, obviously I want to finish as high as I can.
“If I can get into second, then obviously that makes life a little bit more straightforward for the team. But... I mean, I'm not going to do anything specific to try and make that happen. I want to try and win the race myself. And let's see what I can try and do.”
With Piastri keen to look after his own interests, he was pushed on whether he and Norris were clear on the rules of engagement if they find themselves in a battle for lead.
“The rules are very, very clear and haven't changed," he insisted. “We're free to race each other to try and win. Of course, we're in a constructors' championship fight and we know that there's a lot at stake for the team.
“But we've shown time and time again that we can race each other well, race each other cleanly. We're free to try and both win the race. And that's not changed.”
Norris simplified matters as he revealed the one rule that had been put in place: “There’s never been any rules apart from 'don’t crash into each other'”, he explained.
The 24-year-old will be starting on pole for the fourth time in his career and will be looking for a fine showing as F1 returns following the summer break.
Norris claimed on Thursday that he had “not performed at the level of a world champion” this season despite taking victory in Miami and proving to be Verstappen’s closest title challenger in 2024.
The gap to Verstappen at the top of the standings sits at 78 points and Norris once again conceded he needed to be better off the line to take full advantage of his pole position, even if he has still been unable to put a finger on any continual issue.
“I mean, it's obvious. I know my starts have not been my forte,” he said.
“They've not been bad, honestly, I'm still up there with being one of the best average starters. I've just missed out on a couple of races and maybe slightly worse than what it's been over the course of a season.
“There's a couple of times when they've not been quite where they need to have been, a couple of times I've been on the front row. So, like I said, they've not been for any certain reason.
“They've been different things each time. But I feel confident I put in a good amount of work to kind of try and make my starts a bit better. And tomorrow's a new day.”
