Lando Norris rejects ‘Papaya rules’ narrative in title chase

McLaren’s management of its title-chasing drivers stole the spotlight at Monza, even as Max Verstappen returned to the top step with a crushing win.

The Red Bull driver, out of realistic championship contention despite his dominance from pole, ended McLaren’s recent stranglehold with a lights-to-flag drive. But the post-race chatter centred on the moment team orders forced Oscar Piastri to surrender position to Lando Norris.

The Australian had been leading only thanks to a slow pitstop for Norris, and he was unimpressed when told to move aside. “We said a slow pit stop was part of racing, so I don’t know what has changed,” Piastri complained on the radio.

He eventually complied, later downplaying it with a grin: "A little in-chi-dent at the end, but that’s ok.” Norris, who inherited second place and edged closer in the points, was met with boos from the Monza crowd. “I don’t know why,” he shrugged. “I heard them. I hear the cheers louder than the boos, and that’s the most important.”

He also rejected suggestions that McLaren has a special rulebook favouring him. “There are no papaya rules anymore,” he smiled to DAZN. “We never had them. The main thing is fairness. One page, I don’t think it’s even one page,” he added of McLaren’s so-called ‘rules of engagement’.

Piastri made clear his reluctance but stressed he would not defy the team. “I said what I had to say on the radio,” he admitted. “Once I got the second request, then I’m not going to go against the team. There’s a lot of people to protect and a culture to protect outside of just Lando and I.

"The radio call kind of says enough. I’m sure we’ll discuss it again.” Norris, however, insisted the approach was correct. “The team is the priority. The team is number one, then the drivers are second.

"Normally, when you see teams who don’t have enough respect for the team and the opportunities the team gives, it doesn’t normally last long,” he said.

But even Verstappen chuckled on the radio when he learned of the orchestrated swap. I know you guys want a fun answer on that, but it’s not my problem,” he told reporters afterwards.

Later, he told Viaplay in Dutch: “In my opinion, a bad pitstop can happen, just like an engine failure or a driver’s mistake. That’s racing, so yes, I had to laugh a little about Oscar having to give up the position.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff warned McLaren might regret the precedent it is setting. “I think we’ll get an answer to what the right decision was later in the season when things get heated,” he said.

Team boss Andrea Stella, though, was unmoved. “It’s not about right or wrong,” he told Sky Italia. “It’s about our philosophy and how we want to go about our racing. It had nothing to do with Lando’s technical retirement at Zandvoort.”

With both drivers still in the hunt, McLaren could secure the constructors’ title as soon as Baku.