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Speaking to AS Colombia on YouTube, Juan Pablo Montoya explained why McLaren cannot back Piastri over Norris, even if there is growing pressure to do so. Both drivers reportedly have a clause in their contracts that blocks any kind of team order until they are mathematically out of the title race. And with Verstappen closing the gap at the top, we could see all three within a race win heading into the Abu Dhabi finale. While McLaren can issue team orders, those instructions have to benefit the overall team result rather than favour one driver over the other. Last year, when this situation came up, McLaren said they would sooner stick to their principles than sacrifice their approach just to secure a title. Montoya claimed: “They can’t because, first of all, the drivers’ contracts say that as long as they are mathematically in the championship, they can’t give them team orders to help the other driver. But they can give them team orders to benefit the team. “So what I’m saying is that they have to look at how they handle that politically internally.” Juan Pablo Montoya says Lando Norris retirement was the worst thing for Oscar Piastri Piastri was in a strong position after the Dutch Grand Prix, where he won and Norris retired with a mechanical issue. But since then, Norris has closed the gap by 20 points. The Australian has managed just one podium finish in the past four races, a stretch that also included two crashes in Azerbaijan. Montoya had advised him to play it safe, but now believes the 24-year-old may be holding back too much. Despite early success in F2 and F3, this is only his third season at the top level, and the pressure is beginning to show. “I think the biggest damage Oscar could have suffered was Lando having a mechanical problem,” said Montoya. “Things changed, the approach changed, things changed, and the speed right now is not the same, you understand? He’s no longer getting the speed in Q3,” Montoya said.
