Lando Norris, McLaren, Baku Street Circuit, 2022

Transcript: Why Norris reluctantly complied with McLaren’s Baku team orders

2022 Azerbaijan GP team radio transcript

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Drivers are seldom satisfied at being told to stay behind their team mates, particularly in the final laps of a race when there are points on the line.

That was the case when Lando Norris to ordered to hold position by McLaren with three laps to go on Sunday.

When it was pointed out to him that his team mate Daniel Ricciardo had done the same for him earlier in the race, Norris objected. “But that was for the strategy,” he said. “This is for the finishing position.”

Nonetheless, despite showing his team mate the nose of his car going into turn one, Norris complied. But speaking to media after the race it was clear Norris was disappointed he’d been told to follow Ricciardo home, partly because his team mate had benefited from the timing of a Virtual Safety Car period later in the race.

However it was also clear, as is often the case in these situations, that Norris didn’t have the full picture about exactly how the team had made its decision, after Ricciardo followed him for much of the first stint while the pair pursued Fernando Alonso.

“It was one lap Daniel just stayed behind me until I boxed and I don’t think that one lap would have changed anything,” said Norris in response to a question from RaceFans. “He still would have been probably been behind Fernando and I still would have been behind. It’s just he got the VSC pit stop.”

Fernando Alonso, Alpine, Baku Street Circuit, 2022
The McLarens chased Alonso early on
Norris stressed he was happy to follow the team’s instructions, but felt he should have had the opportunity to race his team mate.

“I think just racing for a normal position at the end, he wasn’t there or behind me or whatever in a different position because of what we did earlier in the race. We thought that would help me it, but it didn’t. Therefore, at the end of the race, there was nothing to gain or lose between us.

“It was just, it’s a race. It’s nothing I’m complaining of or I’m angry about it. I wanted to overtake and I wanted to race and that’s what I said on the radio. But I listen to what the teams says.”

Here’s everything the team said to both its drivers during the race:

Norris and Ricciardo Azerbaijan Grand Prix team radio messages

The McLaren drivers occupied the sixth row of the grid, Norris on medium tyres ahead of Ricciardo on hards. The pair kept their positions at the start, Norris unable to pass Alonso due to the Alpine’s strong traction out of the slow speed corners and speed on the straights due to its lower wing level.

Norris wasn’t able to get within DRS range of Alonso, and Ricciardo found good initial pace on his harder rubber, so he was immediately on his team mate’s tail. McLaren therefore told Ricciardo as early as lap four not to try to pass the team’s other car. Norris was also told the same.

LapSpeakerMessageSpeakerMessage
2StallardMiddle sector use anti-overtake if possible.
StallardOcon 1.2. Suggest brake balance plus two clicks.
RicciardoUnderstood. I used some anti-overtake, was that okay?
StallardYeah, very good.
3JosephSuggest strat seven.RicciardoWill DRS activate this lap?
JosephAnd DRS has been enabled.StallardDRS enabled. DRS enabled now.
4JosephDaniel’s been asked to hold position.StallardStrat seven. Strat seven. No more anti-overtake.
StallardDaniel team orders, hold position behind Lando, hold position for the moment.

The pair were told to extend their advantage over Ocon. The Alpine driver was dropping back from Ricciardo, who pointed out to McLaren he was capable of lapping more quickly:

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5JosephLando our goal at the moment is for both you and Daniel to gap Ocon behind who is 3.5.RicciardoUnderstood. I’ll keep you posted if I’ve got a lot more pace.
StallardUnderstood. Keep me updated on pace.
StallardWe can protect the rear or turn eight/nine through the castle. Protect the rear through the castle.
RicciardoOkay. Do you want me to not use anti-overtake at all?
StallardCurrently pack is full, that’s why Daniel. Anti-overtake’s fine if you discharged the pack.
StallardAnd suggest brake balance plus two clicks, brake balance plus two clicks.
StallardGap to Ocon is now 2.7. What we want to do is keep pulling the gap on him.
6JosephHow is the pace? How are the tyres?StallardSuggest red…
NorrisPace three or so. Just trying to protect the tyres. Just can’t overtake so no point in pushing.RicciardoThis…
JosephOkay Lando message understood. Suggest orange E5, orange E5.StallardGo ahead.
RicciardoGo on, you go.
StallardSuggest…
RicciardoI was going to just say if this is his best pace, I’ve got more.
StallardUnderstood. Daniel, turn five, if you need it, use top-left toggle. But rear slip is high as well. 20k tailwind turn five.
7JosephAnd Lando minor white H8 position five. White H8 position five.StallardKeep looking after the rears, Daniel, keep looking after the rears.
StallardDaniel target smoother inputs turn 19 to protect rears. Smooth as you can with the steer turn 19.
RicciardoUnderstood.
StallardOkay Daniel, Lando is managing tyres, Lando is managing his pace by a few tenths. So if we want to just focus on doing the same, manage the tyres. We need to get good pace to target lap.

Carlos Sainz Jnr’s retirement caused a Virtual Safety Car period. McLaren kept both drivers out.

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8NorrisA lot of surges in third gear.RicciardoUnderstood.
JosephThe switch we just did should help.StallardConsider yellow down two for mid-corner rotation.
StallardAnd with that diff change suggest orange torque four to protect rears, orange torque four to protect rears.
StallardSo that’s a 1.8-second gap to Lando. Now I would keep within that range. Ocon 2.8.
9JosephCouple of yellow flags turn four.RicciardoOkay. Deg pretty even on both axles at the moment.
JosephLando how are the tyres?StallardCopy. Yellow flags. Yellow flags turn four. Virtual Safety Car. Virtual Safety Car. Delta positive.
NorrisThey seem okay.RicciardoUnderstood.
JosephUnderstood.RicciardoYou happy with recharge on?
JosephVirtual safety car. Virtual safety car. We will stay out. We will stay.StallardYeah. Recharge on is good, but you need to keep the delta close to zero. Hamilton was struggling with tyres, some other cars pitting.
NorrisConfirm. Stay out.StallardWe will stay out. Stay out. Keep the delta close to zero.
JosephConfirm. Stay out.RicciardoUnderstood.
NorrisMost others are boxing.StallardCould be racing cars at pit exit.
JosephYep. We are happy to stay out as the tyres are good.StallardWill be racing cars at pit exit.

The team could have brought Norris in for an attacking one-stop strategy, switching to hard tyres as Charles Leclerc did. But a message from Norris’s race engineer Will Joseph indicates why they ruled that out:

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10JosephCould be close [unclear].StallardCar behind is now Gasly. Gasly on hard.
JosephAnd just try and stay on the delta.StallardSuggest green shape four, green shape four and one click down on brake balance. Should be better through stop. Green shape four, one click down.
JosephAnd VSC ending, VSC ending.RicciardoOkay. How was Gasly’s pace on the medium.
StallardGasly was always in traffic behind Vettel but looks similar to what Lando is doing.
StallardVirtual Safety Car ending. Recharge off.
StallardDRS enabled.
11NorrisStraight line speed is tough, overtaking very difficult.StallardSuggest red mid four for a mid-corner rotation, red mid four. Take care turn three exit, there was a bit of a snap, which we can’t afford.
Norris[Unclear] pace [unclear] quicker, I’m just stuck.
JosephOkay. Understood. We are gapping the cars we need to. This is a relatively good position for us to be in.
12JosephSo Lando an update for you. Everyone in front, apart from Alonso and the Red Bulls took it. Those who did have got to do a bad one-stop or convert to a two-stop.
JosephBehind you is Daniel, who stayed out, Gasly who took it, and Ocon who stayed out. Our goal is to do a good job of Plan A and gap the cars behind from Ocon. We are doing that.

Following the VSC period Norris edged further away from Ricciardo, who was being given feedback on how to improve his driving style:

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13NorrisThere’s still a lot of surging.RicciardoUnderstood.
JosephUnderstood. I’ll look at it. Be careful slips, turn six, turn seven, turn 12.StallardKeep trying to smooth out the inputs to turn 19, we see high surface temperature turn 19, if you can protect that at all.
JosephLando, minor: White H8, position eight. White H8 position eight for the surge.RicciardoUnderstood.
JosephAnd Lando. The safety car window is open. Safety Car window is open.
NorrisConfirm.
14JosephThank you.StallardTurn 19 better this time, turn 19 better.
JosephAnd Lando if we had to stop happy with the down one?RicciardoOkay.
NorrisYeah. I’m happy with balance.StallardOkay. Gasly is now 1.5. I think we’re just slightly combining too much entry, so make sure you’re not combining too much brake and steer, not [unclear] that rear locking.
JosephGap to Ocon is currently 8.9. If you still get the surge, you could try lower gear. Just be careful of tyres. Only if it bothers you.
15JosephLando you are currently P6. Hamilton and Tsunoda pitted. They are stuck behind Ocon, who’s in ninth.RicciardoOkay.
NorrisGraining front-right.StallardYou’re pulling away from Ocon, though, gap to Ocon now 6.7.
JosephOkay. Lando, we see that, the rears look okay.StallardGasly 1.1.
StallardGasly now 0.9.

McLaren told Norris they were considering pitting him to attack Alonso, whose lap times were dropping. However Alpine brought Alonso in on lap 18 and the opportunity for McLaren to ‘undercut’ him was gone:

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16NorrisR3, struggling with front-right, a lot.StallardSuggest yellow diff one. Yellow diff one should help you release the brake. Gasly 1.1.
JosephOkay. Understood.
JosephOrange E3.
JosephLando minor: White H4 position three.
JosephWe see similar graining on Alonso.
17JosephWe suggest using the left-hand toggle for turn one, turn two. And we are Plan A, look to extend.Ricciardo[Unclear] the exit because rear’s loose on exit.
StallardNo should help straighten the exit, should help mid-corner rotation.
StallardAlonso suffering with graining now.
StallardSo we expect him to pit?
StallardUnclear, Daniel.
18JosephLando we’re thinking box to overtake, R switch, R switch, what do you think?
NorrisConfirm. Yeah confirm, happy with that box to overtake.
JosephJust remember to put the R switch in the right place.

McLaren didn’t keep Norris out much longer. He came in two laps after Alonso but fell six seconds behind the Alpine.

Meanwhile Ricciardo had closed right up to his tyre-troubled team mate again. He told McLaren he was capable of going quicker and was concerned about being passed by Gasly:

19JosephOkay mate bal minus one. This is the bit that makes our race.StallardOkay Daniel, stay behind Lando one more straight. We need to see what pace he has in clear air.
NorrisI’m still R3 rear.StallardDaniel Let me know how much you’re being held up.
JosephOkay strat six is okay for a few laps.StallardYeah I’ve got more pace.
JosephLando Alonso fell behind Bottas, who’s 18.2 doing a 51.1. Minor: White H4 four position three, white H4 position three.StallardKeep you posted.
StallardOkay. Alonso pitted into traffic. Lando’s trying to overcut him. We’d like to sit behind Lando to give Lando that opportunity.
20NorrisDoes he have DRS?StallardIf I sit behind any longer I’m going to get eaten up by Gasly.
JosephYes.StallardCopy.
JosephDaniel’s using DRS to defend from Gasly, not for you.StallardOkay Lando will box this lap. Then we go. Lando will box this lap.
NorrisI’m R3, too much, the rears are going.
JosephSuggest…
NorrisR4.
JosephYep, we got it.
NorrisR4.
JosephUnderstood, mate. We’ll box this lap.
JosephLando we’re going to box his lap. Careful, Leclerc’s blown up on the pit entrance. Just be careful of him.
21JosephLaunch map, launch map, launch map. Could be close to cars at exit. Will be Stroll who’s approaching turn one now, possibly Albon who’s behind him.StallardAnti-overtake available.
JosephOkay Lando we’re still in a good position. We’re the latest of the cars to stop. People stopped early on to the hard complaining already. Let’s take this step-by-step.StallardTrack is showing slippery turn 18 to the pit entry. That’s Leclerc had an engine failure, may have dropped oil. You went through it last lap though.
NorrisWhat are they struggling with? The other cars on hard.StallardGasly 0.7.
(L to R): Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri; Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren; Baku Street Circuit, 2022
Gasly got past Ricciardo after Alonso pitted

Gasly immediately slipped by Ricciardo and drew away from him. Hamilton also caught and passed the McLaren:

22JosephWe’re getting the info.StallardOkay. I think you can stay with Gasly, I think you can stay with Gasly and his pace is alright compared to competitors.
JosephDaniel felt a little bit of front-right graining. First stint some cars on hard struggled with a little bit of deg.StallardOkay white H4 position three. H4, three.
StallardThe car behind is Hamilton. He pitted at the VSC, 2.3, hard tyres.
23JosephSo Lando the three cars in front are Albon, who took the tyre under the VSC, then Stroll and Bottas who stayed out from the start.StallardTurn seven, you just need to manage with brake pressure, turn seven manage with brake pressure. Brake balance is good.
RicciardoOkay.
24JosephOkay Lando it’s time to try and start overtaking cars in front. Otherwise, the race falls away from us.StallardThe pace is still good Daniel. Pace is good. You’re building gaps to cars behind. We want plan A, plan A.
StallardHamilton 1.2.
25RicciardoRears taking a bit of a hit now.
StallardCopy.
StallardOkay Hamilton 0.8. I don’t want to lose time with Hamilton. You’re trying to gap Bottas. Bottas doing 1’50.6.
RicciardoOkay.
StallardHe’s 19.8 behind.
26StallardOkay you’re still gapping the cars we’re racing so keep with Hamilton as long as you can.
RicciardoUnderstood.

Having come out of the pits on fresh tyres, Norris picked off Alexander Albon, Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas in quick succession. Soon he was close enough to Ricciardo that his team mate would fall behind him when he pitted, unless a VSC or Safety Car period occured:

27JosephStroll next. He won’t have DRS. He’s on old tyres. Let’s get him.RicciardoI think this pace summed up this lap. It’s representative. I could probably do this.
StallardOkay, that’s good.
28JosephOkay Lando Daniel is 25 ahead.StallardGood pace. Good pace.
StallardThe pace is still good Daniel, keep looking to extend.
RicciardoUnderstood.
29StallardStill quicker than Bottas, his last lap 49.9.
30StallardDaniel tyres still going while we’re thinking target plus five, target plus five, if you can keep this pace.
StallardStill quicker than Bottas.
RicciardoOkay. Think I can just hang on to this pace. That should be okay.
31JosephOkay mate good job, Daniel within our window now. Cars in front are Magnussen, then Ocon. Ocon is out from the start, Magnussen stopped under the VSC. Magnussen 3.8.StallardSuggest silver entry five to help brake release. Silver entry five.
StallardDaniel We are in the Safety Car windows, Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car windows.
RicciardoOkay.
32StallardOkay car call behind his Tsunoda, gap 1.6. We want to stay ahead of him.
StallardThat’s a good lap. Tsunoda 1.8.

On lap 33 Ricciardo got the break he needed. Kevin Magnussen’s Haas rolled to a stop, a VSC period was triggered, and he switched to medium tyres while staying in front of Norris:

33JosephAnd Virtual Safety Car deployed. Virtual Safety Car deployed.StallardVirtual Safety Car, Daniel, Virtual Safety Car. Recharge on, drive to the delta.
JosephLando how are the tyres, how are the tyres?RicciardoDo we think it will be long?
NorrisAh they’re fine, I think, obviously, I would love new, but they’re not too bad.StallardDifficult to say, Magnussen is near an exit.
JosephOkay. Understood. Under a VSC, we would stay out. We would stay out. The VSC is for Magnussen, who went straight on or retired the car at turn 15.StallardDaniel, how’s the front wing?
JosephJust stay close to your delta please.RicciardoI think it’s okay. If the track’s cooling we can come up, but, yeah.
JosephAnd keep close to your delta.StallardThe yellows are here, yellows ahead. Track temperature’s dropped five degrees since the start of the race.
NorrisStay out confirm.StallardDaniel we’re box this lap, box this lap. Make sure the Delta is close to zero at pit entry.
JosephStay out.RicciardoUnderstood. Let’s come up just a little bit, just a normal offset.
StallardCopy. I’m doing the extra half-turn. Box now.
RicciardoYeah, box confirmed.
34JosephLando an update. Daniel in front of us obviously benefited from the VSC. No one else did. So this will define the positions we will be racing to the end.RicciardoDaniel pit lane.
NorrisWhat position am I in?RicciardoCan I go launch map off?
JosephWe think it’s 10. Still yellows in turn 15.StallardLaunch map off. And… Okay. So it’s still Virtual Safety Car, Daniel. So keep the Delta negative. Sorry, positive. Delta positive. Down three clicks brake balance, brake balance down three clicks. The car behind is Lando on hard. The car ahead is Alonso on hard. Gap to Alonso five, gap to Lando nine.
JosephAnd VSC ending, VSC ending.StallardDaniel, at the end of this lap, there are 17 laps to go. Obviously we’d like to pass Alonso if we can. Vettel is also ahead of Alonso, Vettel 11 seconds ahead of you. Lando did 20 laps on medium at the race start. He had some graining on right-hand side tyres for the last three or four laps of that stint.
RicciardoUnderstood.
StallardSuggest yellow diff two, yellow diff two.
StallardStill yellows turn 15.
StallardVirtual Safety Car ending, recharge off, recharge off. Top-left toggle for turn one, cold tyres.

Now Ricciardo was chasing Alonso, with Norris five-and-a-half seconds behind once the race resumed.

35JosephOkay Lando Tsunoda is in P5. He’s 15.2 ahead, holding up other cars. He’s out from the VSC. Ocon 9.4 behind.StallardDRS enabled.
36StallardOkay Tsunoda struggling at the restart he’s eight seconds ahead that could be another opportunity.
RicciardoUnderstood.
37JosephLando, opportunity: Mind late entry speed, turn 16.
JosephTurn 16 good that time.
38JosephSuggested Orange E5 orange E5 and left-hand toggle for turn five, turn six.StallardBrake balance plus two clicks, protect the rears.
JosephSo Lando…
NorrisLap times is Fernando doing?
39Joseph48.8. Tsunoda has been given a black-and-orange flag. He has just pitted.StallardAnd plus one brake balance again, plus one brake balance.
JosephFernando did a 48.6 last time.StallardConsider orange torque five to calm rears, consider orange torque five for the rears.
JosephTsunoda had a very long stop, 29 behind.

Although Ricciardo was on new tyres he dropped back from Alonso at first. After lap 40 he began to close in but Norris was getting closer behind. The McLaren pit wall discussed what to do.

40JosephAnd Lando we’re happy with what you’re doing with your tyres at the moment. 11 laps remaining. Keep pushing up to Daniel.StallardSuggest yellow diff one, go ahead.
NorrisDaniel needs to push up more. If get stuck behind Daniel Ocon will catch me.RicciardoYeah I was just going to say not much in this at the moment.
JosephI’m on it.StallardCopy. Yellow diff one should help to release the brake.
41JosephOkay Lando last time Alonso did a 48.3, let’s see what we can do.StallardThat’s a better lap, Daniel, keep chipping away. Target 1’48.5, 1’48.6. Lando currently two seconds behind. We want to try and keep the 2.6, 2.5 second gap to Alonso as well.
42JosephNine laps to go. Keep pushing up. I’m working on it.StallardTime to find in turn eight, don’t attack the braking too much.
StallardGood step in turn eight, well done. Just nine laps to go now. Nine more laps.

At first McLaren decided to give Ricciardo a crack at Alonso, then let Norris have a go, and be prepared to reinstate the previous positions. This was explained to Norris, who was asked if he was happy with the decision, while Ricciardo was encourages to attack the Alpine:

43JosephOkay. Lando, here’s the situation. If you can close up on Daniel and if Daniel can’t close up on Alonso, we will let you through. But if we can’t overtake Alonso, we will relinquish the position towards the end of the race. Happy?StallardBlue Harvest five. Blue Harvest five.
NorrisYeah happy but tell him to push more.StallardGap to Alonso 1.7, we’re closer now, do you think you can attack Alonso?
RicciardoI’ll keep you posted. I’ll see how close I can get. But they’re so fast on the straight.
44JosephAlonso has said this is all the place he’s got. Daniel’s trying his best.StallardOkay. Alonso said this is his max pace. We really want to get stuck into him, Daniel. We want to get stuck into him. Gap to Lando is now 2.8.
45NorrisYeah I’m maximum pace mate.StallardOkay. Daniel, I know this is difficult with the speed of the Alpine. Hamilton was able to pass Ocon into turn three.
StallardYou’re doing a good job though DR let’s keep putting the pressure on him. He says he can’t go faster than this. Got six more laps.

While Ricciardo continued to apply pressure to Alonso, McLaren evidently decided the cause was lost, and elected not to swap their drivers after all:

46JosephSuggest left-hand toggle for turn five-six.StallardRemember to use top-left toggle if you do get a chance to overtake. Top-left toggle for overtaking.
StallardOkay Alonso is catching Latifi who’ll get a blue flag. We should be on Latifi sometime next lap. DR I appreciate it is difficult to keep close, could be difficult to pass, but we should just try to keep him under pressure for the last five laps. Keep Alonso under pressure for the last five laps so he can’t make any mistakes. If he makes a mistake, we’re on him.
47JosephLando minor white H4 position one. White H4 position one.RicciardoYep. Yep, yep.

Norris was therefore told to hold back:

48JosephCar in front of Daniel is Latifi, backmarker.StallardThree laps to go, Daniel. Three laps.
JosephOkay Lando three laps to go. We think Alonso’s too fast. We’re going to hold position.
49NorrisWhy hold position?StallardDaniel Lando has been told to hold position. Lando has been told to hold position. Still want to keep pressure on Alonso, if you can.
JosephWe held positions, stint one. We’re returning the favour.RicciardoYeah I’m trying, just the rears struggle.
NorrisYeah but that was for the strategy. This is for the finishing position.StallardStrat four. Strat four.
JosephWith two laps to go. We don’t think you’ll get him.

Over the final laps Norris was all over Ricciardo, who had dropped out of DRS range of Alonso. The two McLarens crossed the line separated by just three-tenths of a second, Ricciardo ahead:

50JosephLando for pace, for two laps, strat four is best, but you would not have overtake. Strat four is okay.StallardOkay brake balance plus one click, brake balance plus one click.
JosephOkay Lando there is one lap to go, hold positions, good result for the team, appreciate it.
51NorrisAll right, I’ll stay behind him.StallardThis is the last lap.

Both drivers were thanked for playing the team game on the victory lap:

VLJosephYellow flags turn one.StallardYellow flags at turn one. That’s the chequered flag. Yellow flags turn one. Recharge on. P8 Daniel. Well done. A good job from the P12 start. Well done today.
JosephOkay dude, that’s P9.RicciardoOkay. Understood. Cheers. Yeah, I just struggled with the rear on that medium. Alright, thanks guys.
NorrisWell done everyone. Did what we planned to do which is get in the points with both cars. So have to be happy with that. Good job.StallardCopy that. Daniel a lot of the other cars that fitted the medium at the end had similar degradation for that stint. So I don’t think it’s a million miles away. And obviously on both cars we played a team game today as well. And thank you for your part in that.
JosephExactly mate. It was the right thing to do for the team. I know you could have done it, well done.RicciardoUnderstood. Thanks. Also, yeah, thanks for returning the favour. Cheers guys, thank you.
JosephNormal reminder from me.StallardOkay. Box this lap. And when you get to the FIA you need to turn the car fully off. So kill the engine, wait five seconds and then fully off.
RicciardoUnderstood. All righty, I’ll go to power off.
StallardCheers, Daniel. Good job. Good job all weekend, good progress.

Norris’s comments afterwards showed he had not been aware (or had forgotten) that Ricciardo had been told to stay behind him over a period of laps at the start.

“There was one lap, just before I boxed, that Daniel could have overtaken me and didn’t,” he said. “I think he was told just to defend to Gasly pretty much until I boxed.

“But I boxed the next lap, so there was one lap he stayed behind me and I guess the return favour for him just not overtaking me was for me not to overtake him.”

However, as the radio messages showed, Ricciardo was also told more than once at the beginning of the first stint to stay behind his team mate.

McLaren’s strategy did not work out well for Norris. An earlier first pit stop could have got him ahead of Alonso, and missing the opportunity to pit under the first VSC played into Ricciardo’s hands during the later period.

It was clear Norris was the quicker of the two, as his pursuit of Ricciardo over the final laps showed. “I could have [passed him], I was alongside into turn one and it was a tough decision whether to really choose or not. But I went with what we decided as a team and I stuck with that.

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, Baku Street Circuit, 2022
Ricciardo came out ahead thanks to a VSC period
“So it’s tough, he just had the luck of the VSC pit stop and he came out on the medium at the end. I just would have thought he had a bit more pace and could attack Fernando much better. But my pace on the hard was quite a bit stronger.

“So I could have done but as a team I think we just did a good job today. We did what we wanted, which was to finish in the points.”

McLaren have used similar orders in the past, notably last year when Ricciardo was told to let Norris by at Imola. These situations are always likely to leave one driver frustrated, though McLaren communicated the situation clearly to both of them.

How accurately that comes across in the next series of Drive to Survive is another matter.

2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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17 comments on “Transcript: Why Norris reluctantly complied with McLaren’s Baku team orders”

  1. Whatever, he was more than OK when the roles were reversed in the same race.

    1. Yeah, this didn’t sit well with me at all. Crucially, when Ricciardo was held back by team orders it actually compromised him quite significantly. He got overtaken by Gasly and later failed to be close enough to Alonso to fight him. It was a mistake by Mclaren to hold Ricciardo back, especially on hard tyres. Enforcing team orders towards the end was the right thing to do out of fairness. But it was all dreadful strategy-wise.

      1. Agreed, the strategy of a faster ricciardo on hard staying behind a slower lando on mediums was detrimental for ricciardos chances.

  2. I think the requirement to use two different tyre compounds during a race should be reviewed. Teams should be allowed to use the tyres best suited to their needs to make them competitive.

    1. @johnrkh I disagree, I think it adds more to the race. Otherwise we’d just end up with everyone on the exact same tyre for the whole race as their almost always is a stand-out race tyre. The benefit of starting on a harder compound is that you know you’ll be quicker later in the race, with the removal of this rule, you’ll just see everyone running the same tyre (usually medium) for all the stints.

  3. I think Mclaren did the right thing in both situations, and this is important in terms of helping DR understand he’s still valued by the team. Mercedes have never let Lewis past George even though GR has massively benefitted from Safety Cars etc.

    @keithcollantine just a note, from Lap 13 for Norris the Speaker is constantly noted as Joseph, even when it’s Norris’ line.

    1. Sorry about that I’ll take a look at what’s gone wrong.

  4. Thanks for all the work put in to give us a full race overview of how this developed. It does show that the issue was mostly that neither McLaren was fast enough to get past Alonso!

    I was wondering a bit how Norris lost so many positions, but I guess it was just the tyres giving up as much as they did, maybe they should have pitted immediately with Alonso.

  5. Both drivers are McLaren employees and while they’re getting regular paychecks they must do as they’re instructed.

  6. Norris did not really comply did he? He was closing in all the time even after those radio messages and I think if there was one more lap left he would have launched an attack.

  7. Maclaren are too conservative when it comes to letting their drivers race for position.
    Team orders and driver coaching seems to be getting excessive across the board.

    1. F1 has been this way for at least 30 years.
      Since about 1989, probably….

  8. In both instances, the McLaren immediately behind Alonso was on yellow tyres. Its great that both drivers complied with team orders, but the team orders should have been to let the faster car through.

    I think Daniel could have passed Nando in the first stint and I think Lando would have got past Nando in the second.

  9. No wonder Dan is slow, too busy chatting and being told how to drive!
    Didn’t they ban coaching?

    1. Nope, they tried but it was too controversial about what is driver assistance and what information is given for safety reasons.

      It was deemed the cars are too complicated to drive without pitwall assistance entirely so the rule was scrapped after just a few races iirc…

    2. Didn’t they ban coaching?

      They never did, and they never will. Unfortunately – for everyone except the team managers.

      1. What’s wrong with it? Every sport you have the players involved being coached through a game, why is it wrong if it’s the same in F1? Should football also ban coaches from giving any instructions to players?

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