Lando Norris hits back at critics with strong McLaren statement after Max Verstappen dig

Lando Norris has defended McLaren's controversial team orders at Monza, insisting they won't alter their racing strategy despite the backlash. The British driver was allowed to overtake teammate Oscar Piastri after a slow pit stop saw him lose his position, a move that sparked criticism for meddling in the title race. The decision to swap the cars was mocked by rival and eventual race-winner Max Verstappen on the radio.

"Ha, just because he had a slow stop?" he replied to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase when informed about the switch. His Red Bull colleague replied: "It's not our business, but I guess it keeps it fair between the drivers in the championship." Norris remains unapologetic, though, and ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, he dismissed any dissenting voices. He stated: "[We're free to race] for 99 per cent of things. Of course, how things then looked because of something that happened last weekend gives everyone a very different opinion.

"But the fact is, as soon as we re-established the position, Oscar could race me freely. He still had the advantage of starting basically on my gearbox and trying to race me, so he still gained overall. Otherwise, we've been free every time to race. It's just in one lap of a pit sequence is when the lead driver always has priority.

"That's how it's always been and that's how it will continue to be but, otherwise, like we said, we're free to race. We continue to do things our way, whether people agree with it or not. It's not our problem, and we don't really care about that. We're happy, we focus on ourselves. Of course, you always want good things to come out of it."

"The team are trying to do a good thing - whether people agree in the end of the day is not our problem. We want it to be fair, we want it to be equal for both of us and then people can comment whatever they like after that."

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Piastri obeyed the team orders despite surrendering valuable ground to Norris in the championship battle, with 31 points now dividing them instead of 37. However, he confessed he might have approached things differently had race victor Verstappen not been out front and had a 14-point swing been possible, rather than merely six.

The Australian revealed: "Would it have made it a bit more difficult? Probably yes. But I don't know if the outcome would have been different. I am not planning on finding myself in that position." With eight rounds left to run, Norris reckons the fine margins will determine the result of their personal battles for championship glory.

He explained: "When I just look at my results from last year, Singapore was one of my best last season. But Oscar has also improved this season. Even if I had the biggest advantage last year, I have to put it behind me and I have to reset and just look ahead to another season, another weekend.

"There's not been any one of us dominating at any weekend this season. I don't expect any greatness, I just expect close battles and, therefore, every little thing is important at the minute. And that's also what I need, just to keep working hard."