last year in suzuka lando was mclaren’s leading car yet they took away his pit priority and gave it to oscar HIS CHAMPIONSHIP RIVAL because he claimed he was faster. they pitted him first to try and undercut lando but it didn’t work. all it achieved was exposing lando’s strategy which resulted in him racing max out of the pit lane the following lap.
yesterday, there was no championship on the line. mclaren don’t even have the fastest car so this could’ve been their best chance to win a race this year. lando asked for the exact same thing and was denied.
and you know what’s funny? the driver and the fans that screamed at mclaren to prioritize the second car last year are the ones mad now because this time the second car was ACTUALLY faster and was able to get ahead even without pit priority.