This is the one time that I really truly hate to say, “ I told you so.” Sunday was race day in Bahrain and there were no short of morale and mechanical issues. The timing system was completely inaccurate, the FIA was handing out penalties like nobody’s business, and everybody was scared to actually race. And of course throughout this, the who number one driver debacle was looming over Mclaren which has brought back a familiar conversation, and consequently divided fans.
As we know, Lando Norris has spent his entire career in Formula One fiercely by Mclaren’s side, and it seems he may never leave. When he arrived though, there wasn’t this onslaught of success waiting for him. He went through two teammates, a million cars, and so many logistical errors. In 2023 this luck started to turn around. Along with the arrival of a new teammate. The speculation is that the team has been a little tense. Norris feels entitled, rightly so, to some level of commitment by the team due to everything he has given up for them. Mclaren however is so adamant that they will not prioritize one driver over the other, and honestly it might cost them their duo all together.
The dynamics in formula racing are just as much strategy as anything else, and no setup can be copied twice due to the intricacies of each driver and their preferences or personality. The team toes this line to such an extreme that the public really never knows what might happen. Lando is a phenomenal driver, and it would be an atrocity if Mclaren lost him. However, he is famously emotional which a lot of people think makes him less skilled. His counterpart, Oscar Piastri, still has a lot to learn, but he remains cool in almost any scenario. So, Mclaren doesn’t know what to do, so rather they do nothing. As we all know though, inaction is still an action. Saying you won’t choose, is choosing enough.