Piastri says he will "Help Out" Norris & McLaren

[cosworth151]

Oscar Piastri  says he will "help out" McLaren's attempt to win both the WCC and WDC. 

“The team have asked me to help out and I’ve said for the last few races that if I was asked, then I would,” he commented. “Of course, naturally as a driver it’s never an easy thing, or simple thing, to agree to. There’s a much bigger picture in play than just myself."

I'd love to read a transcript of the team meeting that resulted in this. "Team orders? What team orders?" 

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/piastri-confirms-he-will-help-out-norris-in-quest-to-overhaul-verstappen.42hv9jbFamzemVbjyGzs1n

[lkjohnson1950]

Easy to say once it's probably too late.

[Jericoke]

McLaren (and other teams) should figure this out earlier in the season.  It's not possible to do these negotiations over the radio when the world is listening.  Just create a set of parameters where drivers can agree to go from 'Papaya' to 'Support' so there's no hurt feelings, and no public loss of face.

Every driver wants to win the championship, and if they can't, they want to look like they can win the championship.  No one wants to watch someone in identical machinery win it.  Of course, you can put aside those feelings if there's something you can turn to, point to and say 'look, I know how to play the team game ^{as long as I'm paid to do it}'

[John S]

My reading of the situation is that contractually McLaren are in a bind thanks to Mark Webber's tightly drawn driver agreement in Piastri's favour.

Mark who was once badly bitten by Vettel's easy avoidance of Multi21 agreement consequences, by clauses in his contract, seems determined this wont happen to Oscar with protection in a tightly worded agreement.
It's not No 1 status, but it prevents No 2 status.

Jacques Villeneuve has hinted at this today on Sky TV, he said:-

“It’s only the contract. They cannot stop Piastri going for a personal win but they can force him to help the team to win the constructors’.”

Villeneuve claimed that Piastri’s attitude will be: “‘I do not have to give up the win, and I won’t, because I am protected in the contract’.

“[Mark Webber, Piastri’s manager] did an amazing job. As a first-year driver to have a contract as a No1 - amazing! It has never happened in the past. Good for him.”

Certainly Oscar will play along to a certain extent, but should Lando leave a workable gap, as he did in Monza, expect the Australian to be going for it.

McLaren are unlikely to sack Oscar if they don't do the double, however we can expect Piastri to be off to another team in double quick time if they use undercut pitstops and other strategy tricks only in Lando's favour.

Unless Lando can really up his game and run at the front for the latter part of this season most team principals will regard Oscar as a future WDC, but unfortunately Lando as just a successful journeyman.