Has McLaren left it too late for team orders? Our F1 writers have their say

While McLaren is odds-on favourite to claim the constructors’ title, its unwillingness to shift its weight towards Lando Norris may well cost him the drivers’ title against Max Verstappen. Has McLaren left it too late or can Norris still win it? Our F1 writers have their say.

Jonathan Noble – Sacrificing Norris’ chances on the altar of fairness may lead to regret

To twist a famous phrase, the best time for McLaren to impose team orders was yesterday. The second-best time is right now.

While we do not know yet how the twists and turns of this remarkable Formula 1 title battle between Norris and Verstappen will play out, few doubt that the margin at the end is going to come down to more than a few points.

So, with McLaren finally realising that, in the word of team boss Andrea Stella, it needs to start ‘capitalising’ better on its car form, it cannot go amiss that it has left points on the table – and perhaps enough that will make the difference.

Sure, the Hungarian Grand Prix switch between Norris and Oscar Piastri involved different elements than the title battle, but what happened at Monza should not sit easily within the walls of Woking.

In a parallel universe, with the team holding 1-2 on the exit of the first chicane, that door was open for it to maintain those positions all the way to the chequered flag – irrespective of Ferrari’s tyre wear.

Holding station would have kept Charles Leclerc back in third place and minimised Ferrari’s opportunities to go for the alternative strategy. Plus, not having Norris and Piastri racing each other hard would have been better for tyre life – further shifting things in its favour.

So instead of Norris coming away with 16 points on a day when his title rival took eight, he could have had 10 more for the win – which may or may not make the difference by the time we leave Abu Dhabi.

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella’s justification for not imposing team orders – in that it is “brutal” and wrecks the racing spirit between drivers – is understandable to a point.

But equally, the downsides that come from throwing every effort behind one driver would be far outweighed by the squad having a chance of walking away with its first F1 drivers and constructors’ double since 1998 – before when both Norris and Piastri were even born.

An opportunity like McLaren has right now is literally, then, once in a lifetime, and sacrificing its chance on the altar of fairness and…