McLaren’s team orders need a big shake-up, says Coulthard
David Coulthard thinks McLaren needs to change who delivers those tricky team orders to drivers.
“That bond between the driver and the engineer for me has to be absolute,” the former F1 star insists.
McLaren faced plenty of questions about their team orders throughout the 2024 season, with their “papaya rules” coming under scrutiny as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri battled at the front.
Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, Coulthard didn’t hold back about what bothers him with the current setup. His main issue? Race engineers shouldn’t be the ones telling drivers to move over or stop racing each other.
“I think when they give ‘move over, don’t race’ type instructions, that should come from the team principal or the sporting director,” he explained.
Coulthard believes the driver-engineer relationship is sacred.
“If you guys are in the trenches together and someone blows the whistle to go out and fight the enemy, you’ve got to know that you’re both going at the same time,” he said. “You’re not hiding, you’re there shoulder to shoulder.”
That connection needs to be rock solid.
“The driver should absolutely believe that his engineer would say ‘that’s not my job.’ ‘My job is to get my driver winning and I will only give instructions that can help that.'”
Coulthard pointed out that during his own time at McLaren, his race engineer never delivered team orders to him.
Meanwhile, McLaren continues strengthening its team behind the scenes.
Will Courtenay, Red Bull’s former Head of Race Strategy, has already started his new role as McLaren’s sporting director. The Woking-based team keeps pulling in top talent as they build on their recent momentum.
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