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Oscar Piastri hints at possible changes to controversial McLaren 'papaya rules'
Oscar Piastri has hinted that McLaren could make possible changes
to its 'papaya rules' after a review over the winter. During the
title fight with the eventual world champion, Lando Norris in 2025,
Piastri believed that he had been unfairly impacted by a number of
incidents as the race intensified. In Italy, after a slow pit-stop
for Norris, he was instructed to allow the Briton to re-pass for
second place before being allowed to race. Piastri claimed over the
radio that during discussions, he believed a slow pit-stop had been
designated as a "part of racing", but did follow the request. The
'papaya rules', which first gained public notice in 2024, have been
described by both drivers, team boss Andrea Stella and CEO Zak
Brown as essentially being an instruction not to crash into each
other or have contact. However, in Singapore, Piastri was also
aggrieved after being shoved out of the way by Norris for third
place at Turn 2 on the opening lap, with no instructions being
given for Norris to cede the position. A late-season wobble in
form ultimately cost Piastri the title to Norris, as he also
slipped to third behind Max Verstappen, as the Melbourne-native
addressed the team orders situation ahead of the new campaign. "It
gets talked about a lot," he told Channel 9. " Behind the scenes ,
it's a much smaller discussion and a smaller deal than what it gets
made out to be. "But, we've got our ways of going racing, and it's
constantly evolving. We'll do a review, and we already have
reviewed. "Do we want to do things exactly the same? Do we want to
change things a bit? We'll get a handle on that fully before we go
racing again. "For me, the intentions were always in the right
place, and we'll do some tweaking if we feel we need it, to try and
make life a bit easier for ourselves."
