'Papaya rules' comes to an end as Piastri shifts focus
F1 News
McLaren' s infamous 'papaya rules' are back to how it was, according to Oscar Piastri. Lando Norris's chance of winning the Driver Championship has been massively reduced and as such, his teammate will no longer be asked to help him. The team is shifting its focus to the constructors' championship.
McLaren had tried to maintain its ethos to not give priority to either of its drivers. However, as Red Bull's performance dropped throughout the season, Lando Norris was unexpectedy put into a chance to fight for the world title. The papaya team had eventually decided that Piastri should sacrifice his own performance and help Norris collect more points.
McLaren have bigger priorities after Brazil
Coming up in Las Vegas, the title fight seems to be over. If Max Verstappen finishes ahead of Norris he will win his fourth world title. Piastri indicated to several media outlets, including GPblog, that the team have decided to eliminate team orders.
"There's still some very specific scenarios where I might be needed to help out. But for the very large majority of situations it's back to how it was. The drivers’ championship picture is very slim," the McLaren driver told reporters.
Their focus now is on the Constructors Standings which McLaren currently lead. They have no time to relax however, as this remains under threat by both Red Bull and Ferrari. "The Constructors’ Championship is certainly not over for us. It’s certainly not a done deal. That's definitely the biggest thing. It's a very specific few scenarios that maybe I'll still help out if that's what I'm asked to do, but I'm going into the weekend trying to win," Piastri said.
This article has been created in collaboration with Sandy van Wijngaarden.
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