Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur gives his take on McLaren’s controversial handling of Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri in Hungary

Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur talked about McLaren's questionable team orders to their drivers during the Hungarian GP on Sunday. The British team pressured Lando Norris to give the race lead back to eventual winner Oscar Piastri.

The Hungarian GP featured thrilling on-track battles like that of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, and team order drama at McLaren. The papaya team had a brilliant qualifying session on Saturday, as Norris led a 1-2 with Piastri.

The Australian had a great start on Sunday, taking the race lead, pushing Norris to third, behind Verstappen. In the closing stages of the race, Norris was pitted by McLaren to protect him from rivals like Hamilton hunting him down. However, it enabled Norris to perform an undercut on his race-leading teammate.

After Oscar Piastri came in the pits for fresh tires, Lando Norris reclaimed the race lead. The British team gave orders to Norris to swap positions with Piastri, but Norris was reluctant to do so before eventually allowing Piastri to overtake him.

It resulted in Oscar Piastri winning his first F1 Grand Prix in his second year in the sport, while Norris secured second place, giving McLaren a 1-2 finish.

As per formulapassion.it, Ferrari's Frederic Vasseur explained that McLaren had a good problem to handle, as they were going to win the race with either driver and earn maximum points with a 1-2 finish.

He said that he understands McLaren's intention to pit Norris to protect him and swap positions with Piastri, who was leading from the start:

"First of all, in their place, I would have enjoyed the double[victory], but their's is a good problem to have. I understand that in the race they performed Norris' undercut on Piastri, a team choice to protect Lando from his rivals, but he was still harsh towards Oscar.

"Then they made a decision that I can understand. Piastri was leading from the start, and the team's decision was to reverse the positions."

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McLaren team principal explains team's orders for Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at Hungarian GP

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained his team's orders to switch Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's positions at the Hungarian GP.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he explained McLaren's Sunday meetings that were mentioned during Norris and his race engineer's conversation during the race. He said that the meeting is held to remind everyone that the team needs to move forward together. He added that none of the team members, including the drivers, can work on their own and climb the ladder to glory.

The British team's principal praised both Norris and Piastri for their performances at the Hungarian GP.

"I think there was a little bit more than that single comment and message from Will (Joseph, Norris' engineer). There's an entire approach to racing that we have with our team and drivers. We are in this trajectory together. None of us, the team, Lando, Oscar, can go alone," Stella said.

"That's the message that we discussed on Sunday morning. With race drivers, you need to refresh this message. That's why we have this meeting every Sunday and we are extremely pleased by how our drivers are supporting the trajectory of McLaren which is incredible, and for me, that's the news today," he explained.

After the race at Budapest, Lando Norris remains second in the drivers' championship table with 189 points, while race winner Oscar Piastri is fifth with 149 points.