Employing team orders can simply be a matter of common sense

Sometimes you just have to summon the bravery to do the right thing, even if it’s unpopular. Recent races have underlined the fact that McLaren and Ferrari still have a major weakness in this department. 

If Max Verstappen’s brilliant comeback in 2025 taught us anything, it’s surely that every point matters. That’s particularly true when you are trying to pull back a deficit against a rapid rival, as both McLaren and Ferrari have tried to do against Mercedes in the 2026 Formula 1 campaign. The race strategies of both have come under scrutiny – Ferrari’s more than McLaren’s this season – but there is one area in which they share a common problem: team orders. Or, rather, a lack thereof. 

McLaren has gone out of its way to be scrupulously fair to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. That is to be applauded, but it should be balanced with an ability to make the right call for the team when required. The Italian Grand Prix was an example of it not doing so and, though apparently minor, underlines an issue that consistently risks losing points.

After the virtual safety car, during which Kimi Antonelli and Verstappen pitted for fresh rubber, Piastri ran second and Norris fourth. Antonelli flew past them both on his way to victory, while the Red Bull – on hard tyres rather than the mediums on the Silver Arrow – came by but couldn’t escape Piastri. While the Australian hung on to Verstappen, Norris overcame Lewis Hamilton’s struggling Ferrari and closed in. With 10 laps to go, the trio was together. 

At this stage Norris’s looked the quicker McLaren, while Verstappen seemed vulnerable, particularly considering the car ‘degradation’ he talks about. Piastri would doubtless have disagreed, but a switch of position to see whether Norris could snatch the final podium place would surely have been worth a try. If he had been unsuccessful, they could have swapped back.

We’ve seen this many times before, most remarkably at the 2017 Hungarian GP. There, Hamilton gave his spot back to Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas after failing to usurp the Ferraris, despite the fact that he was in a title battle. Instead, the two McLarens were left to fight and Verstappen broke away. Norris finally made it by on the last lap, but Max was 3.3s up the road. 

Somewhat ironically, given it was the era of Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher in red that really gave team orders a bad name, Ferrari also seems reluctant to make the hard-nosed calls when necessary. Its recent example comes from Zandvoort. Hamilton, on fresher hard tyres than Leclerc’s mediums, caught his team-mate on lap 41, just after both Mercedes drivers had pitted. But rather than simply swap the cars immediately to allow Hamilton to continue his charge, Ferrari dithered and then Leclerc stayed out an extra tour before stopping at the end of lap 43. 

Hamilton was unimpressed at being delayed behind his Ferrari team-mate at Zandvoort

Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images

It arguably had little impact on the outcome, but contrast that to Mercedes’ later calling for hard-shod Russell to allow soft-tyred Antonelli ahead to pursue leader Norris. Despite the fact that they were - or are - title rivals, Mercedes made the right strategic move and the drivers complied, knowing it would have been the same had their situations been the opposite.

With the pressure-pot that is Ferrari, the problem feels like it’s more a near-paranoid fear of making the wrong decision rather than the McLaren obsession of being entirely fair with both drivers, but the outcome is the same. They both give potential points away.  

This is not a problem Red Bull has because Verstappen has been the clear number one there since Daniel Ricciardo left at the end of 2018, but Mercedes shows that it is possible to be fair and efficient with two top drivers. Yes, there will be conspiracy theories from the fans of whoever comes off worst in each of the scenarios, but that shouldn’t be a concern for the team.

Think back to last year’s Qatar GP and McLaren could have made the title run-in easier for itself had it split its strategies during the early safety car

Mercedes faced some flak after the Italian GP, when Antonelli chased down and overtook Russell for victory after making that VSC stop while the Briton was left out. But it wasn’t clear at that stage which approach was best and, by splitting its strategy, Mercedes virtually assured itself of not being beaten by a relentless Verstappen on a day when the W17 had a pace advantage.  

That’s not unfair, that’s just common sense. Think back to last year’s Qatar GP and McLaren could have made the title run-in easier for itself had it split its strategies during the early safety car. To hell with criticism, on social media or anywhere else – just win the goddam motor race! 

Nobody wants to see the sort of unnecessary team orders that so riled fans at the 2002 Austrian GP, when Rubens Barrichello handed victory to Schumacher, despite the fact that it was round six of 17 and the German was already well ahead in the points. But team orders have been a part of motorsport since before the world championship began and are a weapon that should be part of a squad’s armoury.

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the October 2026 issue and subscribe today.

Mercedes has shown that it is possible to be fair and efficient with two top drivers – who then comply when required

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images