a brief history of F1 team orders controversies

McLaren’s bubbling team orders scenario at the Hungarian Grand Prix led many – including Lando Norris, the subject of said on-track shuffling – to suggest that it all could have been avoided if the team had stopped Oscar Piastri first.

A somewhat conservative effort to lock down the victory meant that Norris was pulled into the pitlane for his final stop first, as the team wished to cover off Lewis Hamilton’s undercut strategy, but this meant that the squad needed to enact the switch for Piastri to get his first win, owing to Norris getting the undercut by default.

Norris relented, and conceded that it was the right call to make despite his protestations over the radio. It probably wasn’t the dream maiden victory that Piastri had hoped for given that context, but it now gets the Australian off the mark in the grand prix victory stakes.

F1 has never been shy to indulge in team orders controversies and, although the McLaren switch appeared egregious at the time, it pales in comparison to some of the prior examples seen throughout the championship’s history. Here’s a run-through of a series of earlier team orders calls.

1998 Australia – McLaren makes first-corner pact, Coulthard forced to make way

With its Adrian Newey-penned MP4/13, McLaren rocked up to the 1998 season opener in Melbourne with by far the quickest car, and token pressure from Michael Schumacher in the opening laps relented when the Ferrari driver’s engine gave up on lap six. For McLaren, which had enjoyed great promise and yet endured a string of reliability issues in testing, the race was simply about preserving the 1-2 positions. Mika Hakkinen, who beat David Coulthard to pole by just 0.043 seconds, led into the first corner to retain the lead.

McLaren had made a deal for the race: the driver that exited the first corner with the lead would receive preferential team orders treatment, to ensure that neither driver was pushing their machinery too hard. By that measure Hakkinen was in the pound seat and, when both drivers did their first scheduled stops, the Finn preserved his position at the front. Then came the ‘phantom’ pit call. Hakkinen received a radio call that he interpreted as a call to stop for fresh tyres, and came into the pits at the end of the 36th lap. Yet, there were no mechanics in sight. Hakkinen drove through the pits and…