Toto Wolff urges McLaren to make ‘rational’ call on team orders after Italian GP defeat 

Toto Wolff urged McLaren to make better and more rational calls while fighting on the track after Italian GP antics.

Toto Wolff urges McLaren to make ‘rational’ call on team orders after Italian GP defeat 

Oscar Piastri, Andrea Stella, Lando Norris and Toto Wolff (via IMAGO)

McLaren had come to the Italian GP (Monza) with an extremely dominant chassis on the grid. The team had great results during the Qualifying session after locking out the front row. However, Ferrari’s strategy changes mid-race allowed them to overcome McLaren to score the race win. Hence, Toto Wolff believed that Woking should make rational team calls on the radio to not repeat such a situation.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris scored the podium places while Ferrar’s Charles Leclerc amassed the race win. McLaren made the radio call to allow both drivers to fight on the track under the ‘Papaya rules’. However, Piastri’s P2 finish disabled Norris to further tally points in the drivers’ championship. As a result, Toto Wolff commented on the team orders and asked McLaren to make more rational calls.

YouTube video

Wolff claimed the team was always on the losing end during such cases. This situation makes the papaya outfit make decisions based on orders and not according to the racing soul. However, the Mercedes boss called out McLaren to have the ‘rational’ side prevail and make better racing decisions.

FS Video
The team is always on the losing end because if you freeze positions and have team orders then you have maybe not what our racing soul wants to do but the rational side needs to prevail.
Toto Wolff told motorsport.com
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McLaren oozing positive vibes ahead of crucial Azerbaijan weekend

While Toto Wolff has urged McLaren to seriously look at their ways of doing things in 2024, the atmosphere within the team is upbeat. The papaya outfit recently posted a video on X in which the atmosphere looks extremely positive ahead of Azerbaijan GP.

Lando Norris and Zak Brown
Lando Norris and Zak Brown (Via: Imago)

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have been performing at an extremely high level this year. Recently, rumors have asserted that the latter will be given preference from Baku onward, but McLaren has kept a tight lip on it.

McLaren’s dominant performance has enabled them to gain massive ground on Red Bull. The team must listen to Wolff’s advice regarding their on-track operations to cement their position on top. Woking is just eight points behind Milton Keynes and must keep up with performances to come out on top.

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