McLaren CEO Zak Brown has been told to make the difficult decision to favour Oscar Piastri over Lando Norris for the remainder of the 2025 season.
Six-time race winner Riccardo Patrese claims the time has now come to implement team orders in the McLaren garage.
Piastri is now 22 points clear of his papaya teammate in the driver's championship following the Briton's crash that led to Norris not scoring at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The pair were fighting over fourth place in the closing stages of the race when Norris went for a misjudged move and hit the back of his Australian team-mate, causing him terminal damage and damaging his championship aspirations.
Lando Norris crashed into the back of team-mate Oscar Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix
PA
After the contact, Norris immediately took responsibility for the collision, a choice that was erased by team principal Andrea Stella and Brown.
According to Patrese, who finished as the championship runner-up to Williams team-mate Nigel Mansell in 1992, Brown and Stella must consider a change.
“I would put Piastri first,” he told listofsweepstakescasinos.com.
“I think he's a bit stronger in the head than Norris, and also he has more points than Norris at the moment. The fact that Norris (sic) is in front now, then Zak Brown can make a decision because it happened to me in ‘83.
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Ricardo Patrese finished runner up to Nigel Mansell during the 1992 season
PA
“I had approximately the same points as Nelson Piquet, but then I crashed in Acque Minerali in Imola, and then we had to fight again with the Renault and the Ferraris.”
Should Brown decide to favour one driver over the other, he runs the risk of losing Norris’ service in the coming years.
Norris has been at McLaren since his rookie season in 2019 and has put a lot of faith in them being able to give him a championship winning car.
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Now that is a reality, the season isn’t panning out how Norris and many of his supporters would have hoped.
Norris will also be getting less drive time at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
McLaren has opted to give young driver Alex Dunne a run in the MCL39, leaving the Briton waiting that little bit longer to get back into his car following his Canadian Grand Prix shunt.
Lando Norris now sits 22 points behind Oscar Piastri following their collision
GettyMcLaren may be forced into supporting one driver over the other should Max Verstappen’s recent form continue.
Red Bull has been struggling so far this season allowing the McLarens to fight largely unchallenged, but the Dutchman has made his presence known on more than one occasion this season, if Red Bull can unlock the performance in their car McLaren may lose out on their title chances all together.
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