- December 2, 2025
No Team Orders At Abu Dhabi: McLaren’s Pitiful Promise To Piastri After Qatar Nightmare
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McLaren once again insist they won’t abandon their equal-treatment policy, allowing both Norris and Piastri to ‘race freely’ at the Abu Dhabi GP.
A dejected Oscar Piastri after the Qatar GP (X)
Only God knows how Oscar Piastri hasn’t snapped at the McLaren brain trust yet.
And if Qatar wasn’t enough of a test of his sanity, Andrea Stella seems ready to wheel out another classic promise ahead of Abu Dhabi: “Race as you wish.” Lovely sentiment from the man whose team’s strategy call all but torpedoed Piastri’s title bid.
To say Piastri was robbed in Qatar is being generous. The 24-year-old did everything right at Lusail — sprint win from pole, race start from pole, flawless pace — until McLaren delivered a strategy meltdown worthy of a highlight reel titled ‘How to Lose a Race You Were Controlling’.
The result? A gift-wrapped win for Max Verstappen and a shell-shocked Piastri forced to swallow second.
McLaren’s reaction? A collective shrug. A tiny “oops.” The kind that toddlers give after breaking your favourite mug — or in Oscar’s case, the F1 championship.
The consequences were brutal. Piastri plunged to third in the standings, now 16 points behind teammate Lando Norris, who salvaged P4. Verstappen, the apex predator himself, sits 12 points off the lead and smelling blood.
“Clearly Oscar was in control of the race and deserved to win it,” Stella admitted after the Qatar GP, which is… something.
He went on to insist Piastri is “definitely in condition to win the title,” adding that the history books show the third-placed contender sometimes steals the crown late.
What can one say? Stella may have left Ferrari, but Ferrari’s chaos seems to have followed him. (Sorry, Scuderia fans — But you know it’s true.)
andrea confirmed that mclaren won’t use team orders for now, since both drivers are still in the fight and free to race. team orders would only be considered during the race should lando require assistance and oscar is no longer in contention.both drivers will be involved in… pic.twitter.com/fVaR4EmfLI
— ray (@ln4norris) December 1, 2025
No Team Orders… Again
McLaren once again insist they won’t abandon their equal-treatment policy. No team orders, no prioritising Norris, no pre-scripted heroics — at least not yet. Piastri will be “free to race” as long as he remains mathematically alive.
“We want to be fair to our drivers, race with integrity, and avoid surprising them,” Stella said.
And then came the asterisk: Between now and Abu Dhabi, more conversations are coming. The approach will be “confirmed.” And if one driver has a clear shot at the title, only then will McLaren “respect this.”
What does that mean? Oh, nothing much — just that the papaya politics are only ever-so-‘flexible’, just like McLaren thought they were at Qatar. Oy vey.
About the Author
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His…Read More
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