McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has confirmed plans to prioritise Britain’s Lando Norris over team-mate Oscar Piastri in their Formula 1 title ambitions this year.
“The overall concept is we are incredibly determined to win, but we want to win in the right way,” Stella told BBC Sport.
“We [will] bias our support to Lando but we want to do it without too much compromise on our principles.
“Our principles are that the team interest always comes first. Sportsmanship for us is important in the overall way we go racing. And then we want to be fair to both drivers.
“The conversations have been very collaborative.
“Even when I said to Oscar: ‘Would you be available to give up a victory?’ He said: ‘It’s painful, but if it’s the right thing to do now, I will do it’.
“Every driver is hard-wired to go for a victory. So I am always very impressed by the level of team spirit and maturity and collaboration that we found in this period.”
Going into the weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Norris sits second in the drivers’ championship standings, 62 points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with a maximum of 232 points still available.
Australian Piastri currently sits in fourth place in the championship, 106 points behind Verstappen.
