Are McLaren 'sabotaging Lando Norris'? F1 fans react after ANOTHER team blunder

Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, McLaren, British GP, Britain, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Are McLaren 'sabotaging Lando Norris'? F1 fans react after ANOTHER team blunder

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was disastrous for McLaren

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 21 September 2025 17:57 Updated: 18:13

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F1 fans have hinted at a McLaren conspiracy on social media after Lando Norris endured yet another slow pit stop at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

McLaren endured a disastrous weekend in Baku, with championship leader Oscar Piastri unable to complete the first lap before he crashed into the barriers.

This presented Lando Norris with a huge opportunity to gain in the championship, however a slow pit stop saw him come out behind Charles Leclerc, where he was stuck in a DRS train and was only able to progress to P7.

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Following the Azerbaijan GP, the gap in the championship between Norris and Piastri is 25 points, which has caused some rather strange claims of sabotage on social media.

McLaren lose out in Baku

F1 posted the video of Norris’ slow stop to X, where McLaren fans flooded the comments with outrageous theories that the team had sabotaged the Brit.

“Is McLaren sabotaging Lando on purpose?” one user wrote in the replies.

Another added: “Haha, McLaren keeps doing their best to make things fair.”

“McLaren gave Norris a slow stop to make it fair as Piastri crashed out of the race,” one went as far as to claim.

McLaren are not likely to sabotage either driver, with CEO Zak Brown committed to letting the pair race for the title.

Some fans referenced the drama last time out in Monza, where Norris suffered a slow pit stop after running in second, and Piastri pulled off an undercut to claim the position.

However, McLaren initiated team orders, and forced Piastri to give the position back to Norris, even though it was team error rather than a driver error.

This prompted several other conspiracies about McLaren, with Bernie Ecclestone claiming the team would prefer Norris to win the title than Piastri.

With Norris once again enduring a slow pit stop in Baku, some fans referenced this incident in the comments section, although some of these were more light-hearted than the sabotage claims.

“McLaren and pit stop drama just won't end — it happened again... Oscar must be very happy with this,” one user wrote.

“It wasn’t Lando’s fault. Leclerc and Lawson should give back position,” another user joked.

One fan called out McLaren’s pit crew rather than seeing any conspiracy, and stated: “See? Swap your pit crew, not the driver.”

Another added: "Pit crew should be ashamed, they did it again."

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