FILE PHOTO: Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 22, 2024 McLaren team principal Andrea Stella before practice REUTERS/Mark Peterson/File Photo
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - McLaren boss Andrea Stella said he never doubted Lando Norris would hand back the lead to winning team mate Oscar Piastri in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix despite the Briton's clear reluctance.
The Italian made clear also that the consequences of ignoring team orders would have been severe.
"I know Lando enough...I know enough and well enough that inside Lando we have the race driver and the team player," he told reporters after McLaren's one-two finish at the Hungaroring.
"I would be extremely concerned if Lando had not demonstrated 'I am a race driver' here, because that's the impulse you need to fight hard. He demonstrated the spirit of the race driver," said Stella.
Norris started on pole position on Sunday but Piastri seized the lead at the start and remained ahead until the second round of pitstops, when McLaren brought in Norris first to cover against rivals behind.
Piastri then lost out in his later stop, with Norris ahead, and the team asked for the positions to be reversed - something the Briton eventually did three laps from the end after rising tension over the team radio.
The win was 23-year-old Australian Piastri's breakthrough first in Formula One, in his second season, while Norris was chasing his second, and is also keen to shrug off a reputation as an increasingly regular runner-up.
Norris is the closest challenger to Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen, albeit 76 points adrift, with Piastri only fifth and 40 points further back.
Stella said the drivers had been reminded before the race about the team's principles and values.
"The interests of the team come first. If you mess up on this matter, you cannot be part of the McLaren Formula One team," said Stella.
The Italian, who worked at Ferrari with Michael Schumacher, acknowledged that the team's values might conflict with the instincts of a racing driver but they were always the most important thing.
He emphasised also that both drivers remained on equal terms.
"I think when you have Oscar and Lando we are in the lucky enough position that we don't really need to decide who is a number one driver," he said. "We race fair and if one of the two drivers gains on merit a result, this is protected.
"Maybe if it's the last couple of races and there's a strong championship interest for one of the two drivers we may revise this, but what I'm expecting is that it's the other driver coming to me and saying 'if you need my help...I'm available'.
"I think you build this ethos if you manage a race like today in a fair way, like I think we have done."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; editing by Mark Heinrich)
