SAD NEWS: Norris unwilling to ‘beg’ McLaren for team orders as he… read more

Lando Norris has insisted he is not going to “beg” McLaren to be handed track position over team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Piastri and Norris finished second and third respectively at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, missing out on the win to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Norris is currently Max Verstappen’s closest challenger in the drivers’ championship with a 62-point gap separating the pair following the Dutchman’s disappointing outing at Monza.

Questions were raised after the race regarding McLaren’s finishing order on the track, with McLaren detailing it will favour Norris going forward with the title fight view in mind.

However, no such call was made during the Italian Grand Prix – but Norris asserted he is not keen to plead with McLaren over being favoured.

“Yeah, he [Piastri] helps me,” Norris told media including RacingNews365.

“But I’m not here just to beg for someone to let me pass. That’s not why I’m here. I’m here to race.

“He drove a better race than me, so I finished third, and that’s where I deserved to finish.“

Red Bull’s lack of pace of late has presented McLaren an opportunity to narrow the gap towards the end of the season in the title fight.

While Norris has admitted he would like to be favoured in the hunt for more points, he highlighted the decision rests solely with the team.

“I would love it, but it’s not up to me,” Norris said. “It’s tough, because obviously I think as any driver, you don’t want it.

“You know you don’t want things to just be played that way. It’s a tough one. Obviously, I wouldn’t say we’re running out of time, but time is going away slowly, and I still believe I still believe we can do it.

“The pace is obviously great. I still believe we’re probably close to, if not the best car again today. I don’t know. It’s not for me to decide. It’s for the team, but I think we’re still working together well.

“We’re still helping one another and I think that showed plenty of times this year that we’re working together very well as a team and we’re performing as the best team out on the grid and we’re very happy with that.

“When you’re fighting for a championship, you want every little thing and I’m doing everything I can. The best way simply is just to win the race. And I didn’t do that today because of some silly things.“

In the latest episode of the RacingNews365 podcast, Ian, Sam and Nick reflect on last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix. Red Bull’s key problem is explained, whilst McLaren’s team orders conundrum and Kevin Magnussen’s race ban are also discussed.