Max Verstappen Caused Chaos After Defying Team Order in Similar Oscar Piastri Incident
Max Verstappen caused chaos when he defied team orders in a similar incident to Oscar Piastri at Monza.
The Dutchman dominated the Italian Grand Prix, finishing nearly 20 seconds clear to claim his third victory of the season.
But the biggest talking point came in the form of the battle between McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Piastri.
Both drivers ran long on their opening stint with medium tyres, which left Piastri vulnerable to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
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Even though Norris was ahead of the Australian, meaning he should have had priority for the pit stop, McLaren brought Piastri in first to cover off the Ferrari.
Norris agreed to the strategy, provided he would not lose track position to his teammate, which he was assured would not happen.
But there was a problem with the Englishman's pit stop, which resulted in him dropping behind his teammate.
McLaren stepped in and asked Piastri to let Norris through.
Although he was reluctant to do so, he obliged and they came home in second and third place.
What happened with Max Verstappen?
Verstappen, who has won the previous four world titles, has shown he is far less willing to follow team orders.
When he was told about the McLaren swap, the Dutchman said: "Ha, just because they had a slow stop?"
Verstappen had a similar incident of his own with teammate Sergio Perez at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.
In that race, Perez was struggling late on and was asked to let Verstappen past, on the understanding that if Verstappen did not overtake Fernando Alonso, he would give the place back.
Verstappen could not pass Alonso but he still refused to give the position back on the last lap.
Verstappen said: "I told you already last summer. You guys don't ask that again to me, ok? Are we clear about that? I gave my reasons and I stand by it."
It left Red Bull in an awkward position, with their star driver openly defying team orders.
Team boss Christian Horner later took the blame.
He said: "I think the root cause of the problem was we had never envisaged being in a situation, being in the final few laps, being in sixth and seventh place in that Grand Prix
"And I think it was something that, as we hadn't envisaged it, we hadn't discussed it before the race, and I think that was a mistake on our part, that we should have thought through or tried to think through every single scenario."
Topics: Formula 1, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Red Bull Racing
James Taylor