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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has revealed the team reversed its decision not to favour Lando Norris after he asked Oscar Piastri to help his team-mate in his world championship bid.
McLaren missed out on a likely victory at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza two weeks ago after Piastri overtook pole-sitter Norris with a first-lap move that relegated the British driver to third behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclec, who went on to win.
Although Norris closed the gap to championship leader Max Verstappen to 62 points, it was widely seen as a missed opportunity to reduce the gap further and put pressure on Red Bull’s reigning champion, who has not won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix in June. There are a maximum of 232 points up for grabs this season.
Team radio broadcasts at Monza revealed that the drivers had been asked to adhere to the ‘Papaya Rules’, a nickname coined for the rules of engagement McLaren have established when Norris and Piastri battle each other, which they say means they are free to race as long as they do not exclude each other from the race.
But Stella confirmed that discussions over the past fortnight have resulted in a change in that policy.
“The general concept is that we are incredibly determined to win, but we want to win the right way,” Stella told the BBC.
“We [will] We support Lando but we want to do so without compromising too much on our principles.
“Our principles are that the team’s interest always comes first. Sportsmanship is important to us in the way we approach the race. And we want to be fair to both drivers.
“What we don’t want to see anymore is a situation like at Monza where we go into a chicane P1/P2 and come out P1/P3. Because it’s detrimental to the team.”
“The interests of the team come first and these are the situations we have to resolve first and foremost because, ultimately, the way we entered the race at Monza left the door open for this situation to arise.
“After Monza, three objectives: we must ensure that everything that happens on the track is not to the detriment of the team.
“Second objective, how to win the two championships, the two drivers engaged to help?
“But what we don’t want to do is win recklessly.
“These are the three topics that define how we will compete in Baku. This topic will be updated after Baku.”
Stella said Piastri had accepted McLaren’s request to help Norris win the title. “The discussions were very collaborative,” he said.
“Even when I said to Oscar, ‘Would you be willing to give up a victory?’ he said, ‘It hurts, but if it’s the right thing to do now, I’ll do it.’
With Norris still more than two wins behind Verstappen, the constructors’ championship could see McLaren overtake Red Bull for the first time this season at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. Red Bull enter the race with a slender eight-point lead over their rivals, with Ferrari just 31 points further behind, a sign that the chasing pack has caught up with the leaders of the last three seasons.
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