Jenson Button tells McLaren how to use Oscar Piastri to help Lando Norris beat Verstappen
Jenson Button has urged McLaren to change their approach to help Lando Norris.
Jenson Button believes McLaren need to start using team orders to give Lando Norris the best chance of winning this year's Drivers' Championship title. The young Brit can still beat Max Verstappen but will need everything to go his way between now and the end of the season.
It will require one of the greatest comebacks in F1 history, with Verstappen leading Norris by 52 points with just six races left on the calendar. Button believes it is still possible for Norris to win, but only if McLaren favour him over Oscar Piastri by using team orders.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Button said: "If you want to win a world championship, you need to favour one driver, especially at this point in the championship where every single point counts right now.
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"If Lando has any opportunity of becoming a world champion, he needs every single point. That's even using Oscar to grab the fastest lap if Max has got it. It's a really tricky situation for drivers and teams but it's got to happen.
"That's the reason why Ferrari won so many world championships with Michael Schumacher and, in a way, it was why [Sebastian] Vettel was able to win so many championships [at Red Bull].
"I think sometimes you've got to bite the bullet and favour one driver, especially at this point in the season. Oscar has done an amazing job this year but Lando has more points. If the team want to win, that is what is going to have to happen."
McLaren have consistently refused to favour one driver over the course of this season. Their approach was criticised at the Italian Grand Prix, where a heated battle involving Norris and Piastri opened the door for Charles Leclerc to take advantage and win.
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Last month, team principal Andrea Stella suggested that McLaren would start prioritising Norris over Piastri but insisted that any decisions would only be made in the best interests of the team.
"We acknowledged with Lando and Oscar that Lando is in the most favourable position, so if we want to give it a go, we should try and support Lando," said Stella.
"We will do this when it is necessary. In those 50-50 calls, they will more naturally end up in Lando's territory and by doing so, see if we can make this quest in the Drivers' Championship even more realistic. Then we will reassess in a couple of races and see where we are.
"For me, the right way is looking at what our values are. The team interest comes first, then we also want to be sportsmanlike. Fairness to both drivers and cohesion as we move into the future is important for us."
