McLaren’s Budapest blunder is still the talk of the F1 town right now! The orange army did reign supreme over all its rivals at the Hungarian GP, but still, it invited some flak for its strange strategy calls. Yes, it is true that the McLaren MCL38 showed off incredible speed by ensuring both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri came home with a 1-2 finish. But the way Norris had to go through a tough decision when the team wanted him to forfeit his winning position to Piastri was questioned by many.

In his 7 years as a team principal for Haas, Guenther Steiner had never confronted a situation where he needed to decide which one of his team’s racers should win the Grand Prix. However, the Italian-American still has some advice for the decision-makers at the Woking headquarters who wanted Lando Norris to give up his second-ever race win for Oscar Piastri. Steiner believes the team should not risk Norris’ chances of scoring a point since he is in the World Championship fight against Max Verstappen.

On the F1 Drivers’ Standings, Lando Norris is trailing behind Max Verstappen by 76 points. If he had won the Hungarian GP instead of giving away his position according to the McLaren orders, he would have gotten 6 more points. So, Steiner said on ‘The Red Flags Podcast’, “You know, for me, it’s like Lando can win this World Championship. [So] I would have been thinking, how can I explain to Oscar: he’s not going to win, Lando is going to win. Because we want him to win the World Championship. But obviously, I don’t know their contract [details], so I cannot speak for them.”

Then, Guenther Steiner foretold a situation where McLaren might be painted as a villain in Lando Norris’ Championship story. He said, “Can you imagine if [by the] end of the season they are missing six points? I mean, Lando will not be [happy] about this.” Of course, fighting a formidable force like Max Verstappen in and of itself is a massive job. If Lando fails at this by just 6 points, which he could have easily scored had he not given up his spot to help Piastri, it will be a tragedy for sure.

But contrary to what Guenther said, ex-McLaren racer Carlos Sainz does not feel like Lando Norris should have done things any differently in Budapest. So, what was the Spaniard’s verdict in the McLaren versus Norris case?

Carlos Sainz believes Lando Norris’ Hungarian GP call was flawless

Lando Norris showed incredible team spirit in Hungary last weekend. Even though he knew the Championship was at stake for him, he still listened to McLaren’s orders. After an internal struggle with his own conscience, the Belgian-British racer did give away the Grand Prix-winning spot to ensure his teammate Oscar Piastri got the victory. Two years ago, Carlos Sainz had sat in the same cockpit beside Norris that Piastri now occupies. And according to the Smooth Operator, “A team order is a team order. And I think the team always comes first.”

Earlier this year, Carlos Sainz’s team, Ferrari, announced they would release him to take up Lewis Hamilton. However, the #55 racer still believes team orders come before any driver’s own interests. He said, “It’s been that way, the way I’ve approached my Formula 1 career over these last 19 years.” With such respect and loyalty to his team, it is unsurprising that Sainz is the top pick for several F1 squads that are currently on the lookout for a new recruit.

Coming back to Lando Norris, the Hungarian GP sacrifice is not the end of the road for the McLaren racer. He will get 12 more chances to destroy his points deficit to Max Verstappen, starting with the upcoming Belgian GP. So, dear readers, get to the comments section and let us know if you think Lando can actually beat Max and win the Championship this season!