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Horner jokes about McLaren's 'papaya rules': 'That did help us'
- Cas van de Kleut
Helmut Marko stated after the Grand Prix that he was happy with the way McLaren handled the situation between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Whereas the Australian was ahead of his teammate, Norris can make better use of the points for his championship battle. Like Marko, Christian Horner is also happy with how McLaren handled the situation, he told GPblog after the race.
Piastri overtook Norris at the start, while Charles Leclerc also passed the Briton. Eventually, an undercut allowed the Briton to overtake Leclerc again, putting him back behind his teammate. Subsequently, the two McLaren drivers were told that fighting for position was allowed, but had to be done according to 'papaya rules'. This means taking extra care.
Horner reacts
In the end, it did not come to a fight and there were no further team orders. Even looking at Piastri's overtaking at the start, there was little consideration for Norris' fight for the championship. Horner told GPblog and others: "I don't know what the papaya rules are. But I'm sure they nearly took themselves out of the race at the second chicane. From a driver's championship point of view, it helped us out a bit."
In the past, Perez has let Verstappen pass multiple timess. Horner stated, "It's always a difficult position as a team. But it's inevitable at some point. You've got to put your best foot forward. And it's impossible to know how to do that when you've got a situation like that."
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