Damon Hill tells McLaren the only reason why Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri shouldn’t be ‘free to fight’ after Imola battle

McLaren have come a long way under the leadership of Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella.

Two years ago, the idea of one of McLaren’s drivers finishing on the podium would have seemed far-fetched.

So Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris securing second and third at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix should be seen as a success.

However, Piastri admitted making an error that allowed Max Verstappen to overtake him going into the first corner.

What will worry McLaren more is that the Australian couldn’t find a way to catch back up to the Red Bull driver and overtake him.

Instead, McLaren changed Piastri’s strategy much to the confusion of Karun Chandhok, and split their approach with Norris.

This led to an interesting moment during the final safety car after Andrea Kimi Antonelli was forced to retire when Norris came on the team radio and suggested a switch between the two McLaren drivers.

What followed was one of the first instances of Norris and Piastri going wheel-to-wheel as teammates.

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Damon Hill tells McLaren to think about Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri battles

During the final safety car, Norris gave up track position to Piastri to put on fresh tyres.

Piastri’s strategy left him vulnerable to his teammate but also at a disadvantage to Verstappen in front who had enough of a margin at the front of the race to make his second stop for free.

Over the team radio, Norris asked: “I see Oscar’s tyres are pretty dead. If you want any chance of going for the lead then I guess we know what to do.

“I’m not asking to let me by, I’m just saying, let’s not make it too hard for one another, that’s all.”

McLaren didn’t swap their positions, and instead, it took Norris a couple of laps to pull off a brilliant move on his teammate.

Posting on Instagram after the race, 1996 world champion Damon Hill commented on McLaren’s decision to swap the pair and said: “McLaren shouldn’t have to worry too much about the constructors with Max being a team of one.

“So, that means Lando and Piastri should be free to fight assuming Max doesn’t catch them! Long way to go yet.”

McLaren’s lead in the constructors’ championship is impressive, with Mercedes trailing by 132 points and Red Bull a further 16 points back.

However, the difference between Verstappen and the two McLarens is much smaller in the drivers’ standings and that’s where Stella and Brown may need to turn their attention to.

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McLaren face crucial decision after Max Verstappen takes step forward in Imola

The first six race weekends of the season saw McLaren’s drivers only finish one-two twice despite their advantage over the rest of the grid.

In China, Piastri was unstoppable and while Norris quickly moved up to second after starting behind George Russell, he never put his teammate under pressure.

Norris was too optimistic going into the first corner in Miami and fell to sixth, so by the time he had made his way through the pack, his Australian teammate was already miles off in the distance.

Piastri was told to hold off attacking Norris in Australia, but since then, McLaren haven’t had to worry about the pair getting in each other’s way.

They now face a dilemma if Verstappen is suddenly capable of winning races due to the Red Bull’s inherent pace.

Stella and Brown will know they can’t afford for their two drivers to take points off each other and may have to decide on who will be their lead driver sooner rather than later.