McLaren 'very aligned' on approach to title fight

Oscar Piastri leads Lando Norris by 31 points in the drivers' championship

Oscar Piastri says McLaren are "very aligned" on their approach to racing in the title fight between him and team-mate Lando Norris.

The Australian said he "trusted" the team in the wake of discussions following the events of the Italian Grand Prix, where Piastri was asked to hand second place to Norris after a pit-stop problem for the Briton.

Piastri leads Norris by 31 points heading into this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

"A highly talked about moment. We've clarified a lot of things, and we know how we're going to go racing moving forward. What's happened is done," said Piastri.

"We've had a lot of discussions about how we want to go racing and a lot of that is to stay for us.

"If we give out that info, we become very easy targets to pick off because everyone knows what we're going to do. It is all very aligned but it stays in-house."

Piastri said McLaren's decision to reverse the order of the cars was made because of the team's sequence of decisions leading up to the pit stops.

Norris had been the lead McLaren all race, but the team decided to stop Piastri first rather than Norris, against normal convention.

Piastri's stop went cleanly, but Norris lost four seconds at his because of a problem fitting his left front wheel. That led to Norris losing second place.

Because the team had made the decision to stop in an unusual order, McLaren decided the right thing to do was to restore the natural order of the race, even though they had agreed beforehand that a pit-stop problem was a natural event of racing that would not necessarily lead to such a call.

Piastri added: "From Monza, there was another factor outside of the slow pit stop, being the order we pitted in. That was a contributing factor to why we swapped.

"That one I'm happy to talk about because it happened. We can't plan for every scenario but we are very aligned and I respect the team's decisions and trust they will do their best to make the right one.

"The biggest thing for me from Monza was it was a weekend where I deserved to finish third. I didn't deserve to finish second because of the pace I had. I was quick at certain points but not quick enough the whole weekend. That is my main takeaway from that."

Piastri said he "stood by" his remarks made over the radio during the race about slow pit stops being part of racing.

"That is a decision we've made, that a slow pit stop is a part of racing," he said. "In the car, the context wasn't there about what else had happened in terms of the pit stop sequencing. So it was decided there was another factor for the reasoning in swapping."

Meanwhile, Norris said he expects Ferrari and Red Bull - second and fourth respectively in the constructors' standings - to be quick on the Azerbaijan street circuit, but added: "I'm confident I can have a good weekend and my goal of course is to win."

Norris' second place at Monza came after his retirement with an oil leak at the Dutch Grand Prix last month. While both he and Piastri were back on the podium together in Italy, the pace of race winner Max Verstappen and Red Bull made Norris reflect on how McLaren were "simply not quick enough".

He said: "It shows we're vulnerable but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. I will try to use it as an advantage.

"If we are just first and second every weekend, it makes my life even trickier. So I will try to take advantage of that. But we've both been performing at a high level and it's going to be tricky.

"But I am doing everything I can and that's all I can ask of myself."

Norris, who has five grands prix wins this year, is 63 points clear of third-placed Verstappen in the championship and acknowledged that the Dutchman taking points off his title rival Piastri in the final seven races would boost his own chances. "Sometimes it might help," he said.

McLaren in 'remarkable position' to seal title

McLaren can clinch the constructors' championship for the second consecutive year if the race result goes their way in Baku.

They will do so if they outscore Ferrari by at least nine points, while not being outscored by Mercedes by 12 points or Red Bull by 33 points.

If that is achieved, it will be the earliest the constructors' title has ever been secured by a team, with seven races still remaining this season.

Piastri said: "It is a testament to all the hard work from the team. It is a pretty remarkable position we are in to be even talking about clinching the constructors' championship this early.

"Just a very proud moment for everyone, myself included, and just excited to get back in the car and drive all their hard work."

Norris added it will be a "wonderful thing" if the team can seal the title in Baku. "To be here and ready to wrap up the championship is a pretty huge achievement," he said.

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso, who had two separate stints at McLaren as a driver, paid tribute to the work done by chief executive officer Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella in turning the team's fortunes around in the past few years.

"The credit has to go for Andrea and Zak that they created a winning structure and car but they were also able to manage the driver for the benefit of the team," Alonso said.

"It is less exciting to watch and for media because there is no controversy in some of the wins - not yet (anyway).

"But instead of thinking that way we should think how good Andrea and Zak are managing everything."