McLaren to consider team orders to aid Lando Norris title bid, as Max Verstappen calls his Red Bull “undriveable”

Stella said McLaren would adjust their intra-team rules “such that they allow us to pursue in the best possible manner both the constructors’ championship and the drivers’ championship”.

The Italian said: “We have now to acknowledge that not only the constructors’ championship is possible but – with the performance we have at the moment in the car, and some of the struggle we see with Red Bull – even the drivers’ is definitely possible.

“If we can achieve both, we need to put the team and Lando in position to pursue both championships.

“Both drivers are mathematically in condition to do so but Lando is in the best position from a numbers point of view and we are fighting Max Verstappen. So if we want to give support to one driver, we have to pick the one in the best position.”

Norris said he would welcome such a decision, but with a degree of equivocation.

“I would love it,” Norris said. “It’s not up to me. It’s tough, because obviously I think, as any driver, you don’t want it. You don’t want things to just be played that way.

“I wouldn’t say we’re running out of time, but time is going away slowly, and I still believe we can do it.

“The best way simply is just to win the race. And I didn’t do that today because of some silly things.”

Stella said the team had discussed the championship situation before the race and he admitted that, had the race turned out differently, McLaren would have considered ways to “make sure Lando had his own opportunities”.

He said that, had Leclerc not been contesting the win, “we could have played with some other variables that didn’t necessarily mean ‘now we swap position’, because it looks a little brutal to ask a driver who is going to win a race to swap positions.

“Now we see McLaren can compete in circuits where last year we were not competitive,” Stella said. “This could be a very important weapon for Lando, in particular, in the quest for the championship.”