Absence of team orders is just fine for McLaren teammates

McLaren teammates and Formula One championship rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were free to race each other in Sunday's Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix and both agreed it was the right decision.

While Australian Piastri started on pole and finished third, Norris took second place after lining up fourth.

When Norris overtook for second place in the closing stages, Piastri did not make it easy as they went wheel to wheel but it was a fair fight.

"I was on better tyres, but I didn't expect anything," agreed Norris. "It was still a tough fight. It was close into turn one. It's the way it should be, of course.

"I lose time through that, and then he loses time, but it's what we have to do in order to battle for a championship. If you try and make someone happy, the other one's going to be unhappy, so it's the way it is.

"I think we handled it well, and it was a good job by the team."

If Max Verstappen's victory for Red Bull came as a surprise, it served as another reminder of how quickly the tide can turn in Formula One.

McLaren have won five of seven races and are comfortably ahead of Mercedes in the standings but Red Bull, third, have now won twice.

McLaren need no prompting, having won last year's constructors' title after a 2023 season dominated by Verstappen's Red Bull, but Norris thought it worthwhile pointing out anyway.

"What was our biggest strength two weekends ago turned into not being good enough this weekend, so it shows how quickly things can change," the Briton said.

"I think we're happy otherwise, it's still a good team result and that's the main thing."

Piastri could have taken his fourth win in a row and fifth of the season but instead saw his advantage over Norris trimmed to 13 points.

Monaco next weekend could be a different story, with the Australian runner-up last year to Ferrari's local hero Charles Leclerc and looking to go one better.

"You’re going have tough days in the championship, and this is clearly one of them," he said. "So as long as we learn the lessons, then that’s all I can ask."

"I’ll learn for next time clearly," he said of Verstappen's first corner move.