Oscar Piastri was briefly told to hold station by his McLaren team while he piled pressure on teammate Lando Norris for the lead of the Australian Grand Prix.
The pair were running one-two midway through the race after Max Verstappen made an unforced error in the changeable conditions, having overheated his Intermediate tyres.
Piastri was lapping four-tenths quicker than Norris and looked set to use the DRS to overtake him and lead in front of his home crowd, but the McLaren pitwall put a stop to it as they approached backmarkers.
F1 fans felt the decision was bad from McLaren, as it was clear there was a performance difference between the two drivers at a moment that was not critical to their strategy.
McLaren wanted time to make a few decisions, but Piastri retaliated by claiming he was clearly faster. As Piastri trailed Norris for another two laps, it was becoming evident that the team was going to face a similar problem for the rest of the season according to Martin Brundle on Sky Sports F1.
Martin Brundle thinks McLaren faces ‘season-long’ team orders problem
Piastri was eventually allowed to attack Norris but it was after the gap grew to two seconds, following an off for the Australian at Turn 6.
McLaren has previously said that it would not be afraid to implement team orders, especially if they are the only drivers in the running for a victory.
Brundle felt this was a taste of what we will come to expect from McLaren for the rest of the season.
“It’s [team orders] going to be a season-long problem at McLaren,” said Brundle. “We knew it, and here it is.”
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Piastri would go on to finish P9 in the race, after late rain caused the Australian to lose control with Norris and both run off track at Turn 13.
While he recovered, Piastri went off again and beached his car at Turn 13 and lost a lap trying to recover his stricken McLaren.
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Verstappen piled on the pressure to Norris in the closing stages of the Australian GP, after the McLaren driver picked up floor damage from running off track.
Martin Brundle thinks Verstappen should have stopped a lap after Norris had his off, as the gap was 21 seconds to the McLaren driver.
