Following the application of team orders during last week’s Italian Grand Prix, Toto Wolff has warned McLaren about the dangers and consequences. The Mercedes team Principal, who has some extensive experience in managing teammates who are fighting for a drivers’ title, has given his two cents on the complicated situation that McLaren could face toward the very end of the 2025 season.
During the Monza race, Lando Norris went into the pit lane for new tyres only to have a slow pit stop. This caused the Brit to end up behind his teammate and championship rival, Oscar Piastri, who had spent the entirety of the race behind Norris. McLaren rectified this error by ordering Piastri to let Norris pass and tell both drivers that they were ‘free to race’ once again.
The art of managing championship rivals explained by Toto Wolff
Toto Wolff has an impressive track record when it comes to managing his drivers during seasons where Mercedes held all the cards. Looking back at the start of the Turbo Hybrid era, Wolff reminisced on Hamilton and Rosberg and their rivalry:
“I think we had two different animals in the car,” he said. ” You know, Lewis and Nico, they were two fierce combatants that took no prisoners racing against each other. At times, very difficult to manage for the team. I don’t see that at McLaren … it’s a bit corporate.”
McLaren currently has little to no threat from any other driver on the grid. This means that they have ‘a luxury problem’ as Wolff puts it. McLaren can’t really lose either championship anymore. The only thing to be decided is which McLaren driver will hold the biggest trophy at the end of the 2025 season.
After the Monza Grand Prix, McLaren is 347 points clear of its nearest rival, Ferrari. This means that outscoring the Italian outfit by 9 points or more in Baku would guarantee them the Constructors’ title for the second year in a row. The Drivers’ Championship is a little more nuanced. The McLaren pair are separated by 31 points with Piastri leading ahead. The nearest rival in the Drivers’ Championship is Max Verstappen, who is a further 63 points off Norris, not a threat at all with only 8 races to go in the 2025 season.
Is McLaren a bomb waiting to explode?
Zooming in on the decision made during the Italian GP, Wolff agrees that the team made the right call following a mistake that was outside of Norris’ control. However, the Mercedes Team Boss worries about the precedent this could set for further mistakes by the team and how far McLaren will go to correct the order in what they think is right.
“The answer over whether managing it that way [is correct] is going to come towards the end of the season, it’s going to get more fierce,”
“On the other side, you know… What is a team mistake? How about if next time around the car doesn’t start up and you lose a position or whatever, or the suspension breaks? What do you do then in the next one?
McLaren Set a Dangerous Precedent With Controversial Team Orders at Monza
Loads of questions and little to no answers will keep fans, drivers, and critics wondering about how the end of the 2025 season will turn out. Will Norris make a comeback before time runs out?
Can Piastri keep his momentum and seal the deal before the final race? How will the fight for the Drivers’ Championship conclude? Will it come down to the final lap, or can either driver take the title with a few races to go?
