Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff says that rival McLaren is” between a rock and a hard place” as it juggles the possibility of team orders.
Thus far the team has not asked Oscar Piastri to help the title campaign of Lando Norris, who is ahead on points and the closest challenger to championship leader Max Verstappen.
At Monza last weekend Piastri not only passed Norris on the first lap but also put his team mate in a position where Charles Leclerc got between them in second place.
Radio conversations referenced McLaren’s “Papaya Rules” that the drivers have to follow when battling each other.
Wolff has experienced costly team mate rivalries in the past, notably that between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
“I think as a racing team that is batting at the front suddenly I think you’re between a rock and a hard place,” he said when asked about the McLaren situation.
“Because on one side they are racers, like we are racers, and we want to make sure that the best man wins.
“On the other side, when it starts to become dysfunctional and impacting your team’s performance, how do you react to that?
“The team is always on the losing end. Because if you freeze positions and you start to have team orders, then that’s maybe not what our racing soul wants to do. But the rational side, I think, needs to prevail at the end.
“You don’t want to lose out on the championship by three or five points that you could have easily made. So walking that tight rope is so difficult, and there is no universal truth of how to handle it.”
Wolff indicated that McLaren team boss Andrea Stella will be able to handle the situation.
“Andrea has seen that all pan out in front of his eyes multiple times at Ferrari,” he said. “What I see with him, he has that racer’s soul that doesn’t want to do it, and he wants to let them race.
“But I think they are going to come to some conclusion after this race on how we handle it. This is where we started to introduce the rules of engagement. We changed the wording and made it racing intent, because rules was too harsh as a word for the drivers.”
Red Bull’s Christian Horner agreed that it isn’t an easy situation.
“I don’t know what the Papaya Rules are, but they nearly took themselves out of the race at the second chicane,”he said. “From a drivers’ championship point of view, it helped us out.
“It’s always a difficult position as a team. But it’s inevitable that some point you’ve got to pick, and put your best foot forward.”
