McLaren drivers were left confused during the Australian Grand Prix after race engineers informed the two of them to “hold position” after plenty of pre-season chatter about letting Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris race.

The mandate was of particular concern for Piastri, who felt he was faster than his teammate, but the Australian has revealed post-race discussions nipped any strife in the bud.

Oscar Piastri reveals ‘good discussions’ with McLaren

Heading into the Australian Grand Prix, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown was vocal about the fact that his Formula 1 team did not intend to use team orders to establish a hierarchy among its drivers.

Yet in the early stages of that race, second-placed Oscar Piastri was told to “hold position” behind his teammate. The Australian driver complied, though he did point out that he “was quicker” than Norris.

The mandate came as a shock to fans and pundits, and it seemed to be equally confusing for the drivers as well.

Not long after, the drivers were informed that they were once again allowed to race each other, but by that point, Piastri had made an error that saw a gap build between his MCL39 and that of Norris.

After the race, Andrea Stella clarified that the order was always meant to be a temporary one. The McLarens were rapidly approaching backmarkers that they’d soon put a lap down, and there was a very real threat of rain adding an additional complicating factor to the affair.

The team boss also noted that he would “have to review the communications with the drivers.”

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Naturally, the McLaren orders were one of the biggest talking points in the build-up to the Chinese Grand Prix, and Piastri was asked about the “hold position” message during media availability.

“We’ve had some good discussions through the week about the thing that we potentially could have done better and things we could have done differently,” Piastri said.

“I think I understand the circumstances, and of course, when you have two cars in the lead like that, it’s kind of natural to want to protect that.

“I think there’s been some very good discussions about how we can, y’know, if we need to implement them in the future, how we can do a better job of that.

“So it’s been an encouraging week, and I’m satisfied with the discussion we had.”

After the Australian Grand Prix, team boss Andrea Stella was asked if his drivers were aware that the “hold position” message was explicitly dependent on the conditions, and that it would be lifted shortly after.

He responded, “The drivers were aware when we gave the team order to hold positions, and then they were aware when we told them to be free to race.”

It is possible that the drivers weren’t able to consider the wider context of the message while they were in the cockpit, or were unaware that the order was given with the intention of it being temporary.

Whatever the case, Piastri seems satisfied by what he discussed with McLaren in the post-race debrief.

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