Stop Blaming Norris and Piastri for Mclaren’s Horrible Culture
McLaren comes into the finale; they’ve already earned their second straight constructors’ title! But they’re two drivers. Norris and Piastri are not only battling each other for the title. But also Max in the much worse Red Bull. Fans blame the drivers, but look deeper, and everyone would see the teams at the core!
McLaren’s Overly Corporate Culture
This year should’ve easily been a Piastri v. Norris battle, and a large part of why it isn’t is the weaknesses in both drivers’ mentality. Things that didn’t start with their team, obviously, but have been enabled and exaggerated by it.
And it all stems from McLaren‘s burning desire for parity in their own team. Leading their drivers to doubt themselves, which makes them hesitant and mistake-prone on track. The only reason Max was able to get anywhere close to five in a row.
McLaren Beyond the Grid at Qatar
The Beyond the Grid podcast was perfectly aligned with the Qatar GP weekend, which was a nightmare for McLaren due to poor strategy. Another problem they’ve had to deal with over the year. But the podcast lets us glimpse into the team’s culture.
Exposing how anti-driver it is. And what makes it worse is that Zak is closed off to criticism of this. Instead, in his words, “ignore them.” Some tunnel vision is needed to see the big picture when doing anything.
But not taking the time to develop the mental strength and clarity to parse through which critiques are useless noise and which are legit can help you. It means you will make more mistakes than you would’ve otherwise.
But Stella’s mentality is much more toxic. “No matter who you are, you respect the legacy of McLaren.” This quote should have everyone shaking; this is the exact culture Ferrari has, and it is currently destroying their team from within. And this is coming from Stella, a Ferrari alumna.
McLaren Over All
It’s why most fans are debating who gets favoritism on the team when, in reality, the team gets priority. When you tell drivers to hold back or sacrifice their race for their teammate, it always leads to doubts among the drivers.
Why doesn’t their team have complete trust in me not to race him well, or is it the other way around? If so, why is that so? Why do my bosses prioritize me one week and my teammate the next? Was this a bad call by accident, or did they give my teammate the favorable call?
It’s why Oscar and Lando’s relationship seems fine. But there’s uneasiness with their own team, as an inflexible hierarchy is always uneasy. But in Oscar’s case, it’s gotten much worse over this year.
McLaren’s Legal Trouble
In the middle of the season, McLaren’s messy trial with the man dominating IndyCar right now, Alex Palou. The relevant point for the F1 team is that the text shows Zak Brown wanted Palou, not Piastri.
It’s not a coincidence that his form has dipped since this has come out. He already had reason to believe the team favored Lando. He came from their academy and has seniority in the team. Plus is considered more marketable.
Piastri is very cool and calm on the track, an excellent mentality to have, especially for someone his age. But this isn’t on track, and he’s dealt with lazy deals before. He’s never had to deal with feeling unwanted by a team.
Final Thoughts
So while Piastri is a young driver dealing with a bad situation for the first time. What doesn’t help is that all this meddling takes away the teeth a driver needs to be at their best consistently. Something Red Bull encourages in Max, and it is why he’s splitting the two McLaren drivers in points right now. Thanks a bunch for reading!
