McLaren’s ‘Papaya rules’ explained as F1 team will ‘compromise their principles’ to help Lando Norris at Azerbaijan Grand Prix
McLaren will be ditching their now-infamous ‘Papaya rules’ this weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The team are set to prioritise Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri in Baku as he continues to try and overthrow Max Verstappen to become Formula One world champion.
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Norris is in second place in the Drivers’ Championship, 62 points behind rival Verstappen and 44 ahead of teammate Piastri.
McLaren have had some slight issues between their drivers so far this season, with strategy leading to them having to switch positions and battle each other in recent weeks.
In Hungary, Norris was forced to let Piastri through and go on to win his first-ever race after an error in strategy by the team.
Then in Monza two weeks ago, the pair were allowed to race against each other and Piastri would make a move that inadvertently led to his Brit teammate, who started on pole, to finish third and miss a golden opportunity to reduce Verstappen's championship lead.
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That move was allowed under the team’s ‘Papaya rules’, but after the impact on Norris’ title chances, they are now set to make some changes.
What are McLaren's ‘Papaya rules’?
‘Papaya rules’ - which have now become part of F1 vernacular - are essentially McLaren's internal rules on how and when their drivers are free to race each other rather than hold position.
Team principal Andrea Stella has explained what they entail ahead of this weekend’s race in Baku, indicating they have the success of the team as a priority.
Stella said: “The ‘papaya rules’ only have to do with racing with no risks, no contact between the two McLarens and respectfully. That’s it.
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“It’s just a quick way to remind our drivers, ‘Guys, don’t take too much risk in fighting each other’.”
However, Stella and McLaren CEO Zak Brown have decided to move away from them for the Azerbaijan GP, to give Norris the advantage.
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"We [will] bias our support to Lando but we want to do it without too much compromise on our principles,” Stella told the BBC.
"Our principles are that the team interest always comes first. Sportsmanship for us is important in the overall way we go racing. And then we want to be fair to both drivers.
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"What we don't want to see anymore is a situation like in Monza in which we enter a chicane P1/P2 and we exit P1/P3, because that is a detriment to the team.
"The team interests come first and these are the situations that above all we need to fix because as a matter of fact, the way we entered the race in Monza left the door open for this situation.”
So, it seems the incident that saw Piastri cost Norris some points to Verstappen has triggered the change in the system at McLaren.
And therefore, should another similar case occur, the team will try to make sure the Englishman’s title hopes are not compromised.
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It’s a decision that Piastri will have to respect, and Stella has confirmed that he has reluctantly agreed to help Norris.
The team principal added: "The conversations have been very collaborative.
"Even when I said to Oscar: 'Would you be available to give up a victory?' He said: 'It's painful, but if it's the right thing to do now, I will do it'.
"Every driver is hard-wired to go for a victory. So I am very impressed by the level of team spirit and maturity and collaboration that we found in this period."
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