Tow today, war tomorrow: Piastri helps Norris at Monza as McLaren title fight tightens
At Monza, where egos and engine modes usually do the talking, McLaren’s title rivals spoke a different language: teamwork. Oscar Piastri obliged a late qualifying request to give Lando Norris a tow, nudging his teammate out of the danger zone and into Q3. Minutes later, Norris stuck it on the front row. Piastri settled for third. Max Verstappen, inevitably, took pole with a record lap.
The championship picture is unmistakably orange. Piastri leads Norris by 34 points with nine races to run, and yet Saturday was another reminder that this is a knife fight conducted with white gloves. The question is how long the gloves stay on.
It was Tom Stallard’s voice on Piastri’s radio that teed up the moment. If you can help Lando, tow him to Turn 4 — just don’t impede. Piastri did exactly that, getting both cars into Q3 and setting up a McLaren-versus-Red Bull front-row skirmish for Sunday.
Andrea Stella didn’t look surprised. “As soon as Tom asked, I knew Oscar was going to do it,” the McLaren team principal said later. “That’s the quality of the drivers and the individuals behind them. It’s the foundation of how we go racing.”
He’s also not naive. “If it’s the last race in Abu Dhabi, will we see the same? I can’t say,” he admitted. “At the moment I’m very proud these things happen — that Lando and Oscar go racing like they do. It’s how the team wants to race, and how fans want us to race.”
Crucially, Stella pushed back on the idea that the tow made the difference. Norris had the pace to advance anyway, he said. But he also left the door open for harder edges as the calendar winds down. If a driver refuses the slipstream next time? “It’s within their rights. Potentially not the most elegant move, but racing doesn’t always require elegance as long as you operate within the principles and rules of the team.”
There’s the needle — just a hint of it — beneath all that civility.
Norris, who’s made a habit of Sunday charges this season, wasn’t getting carried away. “Sunday is normally our strength,” he said, “but getting past Max is going to be a big challenge. Their pace was very strong. End of the stint they’re doing the same lap times as us. I don’t expect any magical things.” He also clocked the red threat brewing in P4 and P5. “We have some Ferraris behind who are going to want to come through as quickly as possible. It’s a long race. Many things can happen.”
Piastri’s read was similarly cool. “Reasonably confident,” he said of McLaren’s race pace. “It is generally a strength of ours, but it didn’t look night-and-day above everyone else yesterday. Slipstreams make a big difference here. The start can be pretty chaotic. There are going to be a few factors at play apart from just pure pace.”
All of which is true, and all of which is why Monza is a fascinating stress test for McLaren’s in-house title fight. You can be the most harmonious team on Earth on a Saturday run to Ascari; the real test comes when Turn 1 asks for late-braking bravery and perfect cooperation at 220 mph. Slipstream strategy is currency here, and it can be spent generously or kept in the pocket for yourself.
The team deserves credit for how it’s handled this season. Piastri and Norris are racing cleanly, pushing hard, and still making each other’s lives easier when the call comes. It’s compelling precisely because there’s so much on the line. One misstep, one perceived slight, and the mood music can change quickly — especially with Verstappen in disruptive mode and Ferrari hurling everything at their home grand prix.
For now, McLaren’s hand looks strong. Two cars at the sharp end, a package that breathes on Sunday, and a leadership group unafraid to say the quiet part out loud: the cooperation is real, and it’s also conditional. If this title goes all the way to Abu Dhabi, decorum may have to share the garage with pragmatism.
Monza could be the pivot. If either Norris hacks into Piastri’s lead — or Piastri lands a body blow — the arithmetic of the championship will start writing the script for how many favors get called in later. And if the first chicane turns into the usual midfield blender? Well, then we’ll see who keeps their gloves cleanest while swinging hardest.
Either way, it’s refreshing that, in a season often defined by small margins, McLaren’s margins include sportsmanship. Whether that survives the next nine Sundays is the story worth watching. For now, they tow together. Tomorrow, they race each other — and Max.
