Piastri backs McLaren’s ‘papaya rules’ after title slip: “Uncomfortable — but right”
He led by 34 points with nine races to go. He left Abu Dhabi third in the standings and nursing a few bruises from a season that asked a lot of him. And yet Oscar Piastri isn’t pointing fingers at McLaren’s approach. Quite the opposite.
After a year defined by a teammate duel that turned volcanic at times, Piastri said the team’s insistence on equal treatment — the much-discussed “papaya rules” — was the right way to race, even if it occasionally burned.
“It is a testament to the way we go racing,” the Australian said after the finale. “Obviously, it’s not easy fighting for both the Constructors’ Championship and the Drivers’ Championship with two very evenly matched drivers, but ultimately, that’s a problem we knew we were going to have.”
For context: Piastri was the house favorite after Zandvoort. He had a clear buffer over Lando Norris, who’d retired there with an oil line issue. Then came Monza — the flashpoint. A slow stop hobbled Norris, McLaren corrected the order on track, and Piastri was told to move aside. It was the most obvious team order of the year from a team that publicly swore off the tactic, and it set teeth on edge inside and outside the garage.
Zak Brown had said he’d rather lose a drivers’ title than undermine “equality of opportunity” between his two men. Mostly, McLaren stuck to that. In Australia, when the weather turned and both papayas were managing backmarkers, it was neutralized, not orchestrated. In Japan, there was no free pass for Piastri to attack Max Verstappen — if you’re faster, do it on track. Even at Silverstone, when Piastri copped a harsh Safety Car penalty, McLaren didn’t hobble the other car to even it up; Norris went on to win his home race.
Monza was the exception. And yes, it grated. But it wasn’t the reason the title slipped. The second half of Piastri’s season sagged under its own weight: the Baku crash, the Austin tangle, a grim Mexico, another crash in Brazil, and a Qatar strategy misread that probably cost him a victory. Layer in a Red Bull resurgence as the RB22 finally shook off its awkward phase, and the math turned ugly.
McLaren had already slammed the door on the Constructors’ Championship by Singapore. The drivers’ crown was another matter. Verstappen, relentless as ever, dragged himself right back into the fight and fell just two points short of a fifth straight title. Norris held on to win it; Piastri ended the year 13 points behind his teammate and 11 back from Verstappen.
“It’s been uncomfortable for everyone at times,” Piastri admitted. “But I think both Lando and I have become better drivers from pushing each other to the limit. At the end of the day, they gave us both as good a chance as the team could have to fairly fight for a world championship. That’s all you can ask for.”
There’s a school of thought that says McLaren left wins on the table by not picking a lead driver once the picture became clear. There’s also a counterpoint: without the internal sharpness of two unleashed drivers, McLaren might not have crushed the Constructors’, might not have forced Red Bull back onto its heels, and might not have won the drivers’ title at all. You can make both cases with a straight face.
What’s undeniable is the human toll of racing that way. Juggling two title bids is never tidy — just ask any team that’s tried it. McLaren’s stance bred tension, yes, but it also bred speed. It kept the garage honest. And it forged a rivalry that didn’t detonate the place.
“We’ve had a lot of discussions through the year, and I’m sure we’ll have discussions in the off-season about anything we want to do slightly differently for next year,” Piastri said. The policy itself looks set to stay. The edges around it? That’s where the work is.
It’s easy to forget, amid the scoreboard and the social media storms, that this was only Piastri’s second season at the real sharp end. He went toe-to-toe with one of the most complete performers on the grid in Norris and the most ruthless closer of his generation in Verstappen — and he led them both for a long, loud stretch.
The title didn’t come this time. But Piastri has the speed, and now he’s got scar tissue. For champions, that’s often what separates the fast from the finished.
