The F1 racing season wrapped up this weekend, bringing an end to one of the most exciting seasons in recent memory as a three-man Driver’s Championship went down to the wire before Lando Norris captured his first World Championship. While recent seasons have seen the dominant car belong to Red Bull Racing, the team with the most clear #1-option in the sport in Max Verstappen, a late McLaren surge carried over this year, and Norris and his more-evenly-matched teammate Oscar Piastri went down to the wire.
Throughout the season, one of the main talking points to arise from this battle was the strategic calls of McLaren in regards to their two drivers, and the now famous “Papaya Rules” in effect on Sundays.
What Are Team Orders In F1 Racing And Why Do They Matter?
Team orders are commands made from the pit wall to the drivers on how to behave on the track. They become particularly important in a sport like F1 where teams not only compete for a team title in the Constructors’ Championship, but also for the individual Driver’s Championship, to the driver who earns the most points on their own.
Sometimes what is best for the team is not what’s best for a driver’s pursuit of their own title, and that’s where team orders come into play. In the early months of the season this year, some of the most enthralling on-track drama came in seeing if and when Norris or Piastri would carry out the orders they received. With a year off to perfect the next title drop, team orders are a must-have addition for F1 27.
How Could Team Orders Work In F1 27
Adding a Team Orders option you can access during the race, similar to how you communicate with the pit, would add a new, more-realistic strategy to the game. When implemented, it would allow you to give an order to your teammate, with the following orders all potentially valuable additions to the game to reflect real-world decisions:
Let Them Through: This order tells your driver to allow the driver behind them on the course to overtake without a fight. This is a safe and effective way to have your two drivers swap position on the course for strategic reasons, such as when your Driver’s Championship-contending driver is in the trailing position, and you want to maximize their points.
Maintain Your Position: Orders a driver not to attempt to overtake the driver in front of them, instead holding their spot. Often, teams tell drivers not to attempt overtakes on teammates if the team is ambivalent on who holds which position to avoid the risk of a costly coming together, which could see both cars out of the race.
Keep DRS Behind: Asks the driver to maintain a gap of less than one second to the driver behind, allowing the trailing driver to maintain DRS. This tactic was famously used in Singapore 2023 by Carlos Sainz, who let former teammate Lando Norris hold onto DRS in second place, providing him with the boost he needed to avoid being passed by the pair of faster Mercedes trailing him, in turn also protecting Sainz from Mercedes.
Give A Tow: Tells a driver to allow the car behind them to remain close enough to gain speed from a slipstream. This allows for similar assistance in addition to a DRS link or, in its absence, if DRS is not activated, and may be used in qualifying sections to allow a driver not on a hot lap to assist their teammate in setting a strong time.
Slow Down Pursuers: Commands a driver to allow the driver ahead of them to create space by driving slower and impeding chasing racers. A driver with this order can allow the leading racer to disappear into the distance while resisting efforts from drivers behind to get by and chase them down, allowing the lead racer to build an insurmountable cushion.
Bunch Them Up: Issues an order to slow down and let the racers behind a driver close the distance and tightens up the pack. Similar to the above command, this would be the preferred option when the driver you are hoping to assist is behind instead of leading.
Defend Your Position: Guides a driver on how to deploy their battery and usage resources to prioritize defensive actions. With this order in place, a driver will be less likely to use their battery to attempt to break away from trailing drivers and instead put all focus into using it when under a direct assault to focus on maintaining their current slot, even if the fight allows cars further ahead to pull away.
