McLaren ‘obsess’ again over driver fairness – McLaren had a foretaste of how they would have to manage their drivers during the 2024 Formula One season. As the team outed down more than a 100 point lead to Red Bull Racing it quickly became clear that just one of their drivers was able to catch Max Verstappen in the drivers’ championship.
Yet despite this, in Hungary having miscalculated Piastri’s pitstop allowing Norris to preform the undercut the team insisted Norris hand back the lead to his team mate. In almost Rob Smedley like fashion, Will Joseph came onto the radio to remind Lando “the way to win a championship is with the team. You’re going to need Oscar and you’re going to need the team.”
Lando eventually responded to his race engineer by moving aside and allowing Piastri to claim his maiden F1 Grand Prix victory. A post race interrogation was handed down to Zak Brown, Andreas Stella and the drivers by the paddock media, most trying to understand why the team had handicapped Norris chase for the title by seven points.
“Papaya rules” crumble
The team from Woking entered a huddle during the summer break and returned with a loosely agreed rules of engagement plan, which is now infamously known as “papaya rules.” The overarching objective of the “papaya rules” is that the team’s interest comes first, then the drivers are to ‘respect their team mate’, “race them hard”, “race them clean” and “don’t crash,” according to Zak Brown.
The problem with any system to try and manage competing team mates in Formula One is in each circumstances the situation is not exactly the same. Come the Italian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri chose to put first the “race them hard” aspect of the “papaya rules” and inadvertently his aggressive move on Norris into turn four on the first lap, saw Charles Leclerc grab the moment of opportunity to slip by Lando’s off line McLaren.
The end result of all of this was Leclerc went on to win the race, meaning the McLaren’s over riding goal of “the team comes first” was not met. Further, with the team’s position now maximised with a 2-3 finish, Norris requested his team mate allow him by, to claim the extra three points on offer in his quest to hunt down Verstappen.
Strangely and despite the win being lost, McLaren declined Lando’s request even though it would not affect the principal, “the team comes first.” So “papaya rules” exist in a transient landscape and this year have been tested to the limit. In Canada, Norris and Piastri were squabbling over with and sixth place, with Lando clearly the quicker driver.
Brown describes McLaren obsessive tally
He harried the Aussie for lap after lap, but no call came from McLaren for Piastri to move out of the way. In damp conditions and poor visibility and with just three laps remaining, Norris thought there was a gap down the inside of the front straight, but the door was quickly closed by his team mate and in a shower of carbon fibre, Norris’ race was run.
Piastri though has tried his luck this year too as in Austria he made a dive to pass Norris for the win into turn four, locking his wheels and missing his team mate by inches. Last time out in Hungary after finding himself on the inferior strategy, Piastri hunted Lando down on fresher tyres and with just two laps remaining made a lunge into turn one. This time the miss was millimetres as the Australian was warned over team radio to observe the “papaya rules.”
Yet McLaren’s obsession with the fair treatment of their drivers goes further, Zak Brown now reveals. The team keep a tally between the pair over who receives which upgrades first. The system is designed to prevent any sense of imbalance between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who head into the final ten races of the 2025 Formula 1 season separated by just nine points. While Piastri currently holds the narrow lead, Norris has momentum after three wins in the last four rounds.
Speaking on the How Leaders Lead podcast, Brown revealed McLaren’s approach is built on openness. “It’s all about transparency, being fair, being equitable,” he said. “When we have upgrades and we can only give them to one driver because two aren’t ready, we tell them why. We don’t let them find out by reading: ‘oh, he’s got a new front wing, I don’t’. We give them the rationale.”
Brown says McLaren are different
The American added that McLaren literally “keeps scores” so that if one driver gets the benefit of an upgrade, the other knows they will have the next opportunity. The aim, Brown says, is to avoid any perception of favouritism and ensure both Norris and Piastri feel equally supported.
As the season reaches its decisive stages, Brown admits the task of maintaining fairness will become more complicated. “They are good guys,” he said of Norris and Piastri. “We are very fortunate. We definitely have the best driver line-up, which has been proven now that they are not only two of the fastest drivers in the world, but also really good guys, very competitive, very respectful. They’ve been brought up well. So hats off to the parents.”
Brown added that the team makes a point of addressing issues directly to prevent them festering. “I think we have a good sense of when there is tension in the room. And it’s going to get tougher because it looks like our two guys are going to fight it out for the championship. They usually end in tears, but not with us — we’re not afraid of it. We talk about it. It’s not the elephant in the room.”
Team mate F1 title battles ending badly
Brown’s revelations lead the wandering mid to wonder whether the American marketeer keeps a chart on the wall of the Papaya motorhome with little stickers plastered everywhere. “Oscar got the new floor in Spa, Lando gets the shiny wing in Monza.” Perhaps the final prize is a trophy for “Best Behaved Championship Contender.”
Yet despite McLaren’s obsession with fair play on and off the track, F1 history demonstrates clearly that title battles between team mates rarely remain on good terms. Hamilton/Rosberg, Senna and Prost and even Mansell and Piquet all ended badly in terms of team harmony. All began will well balanced rhetoric and ended in furious arguments.
Whether McLaren can keep their “good guys” in a friendly and co-operative state remains a question, given the closer the prize the more tempting it will become for Norris or Piastri to think ‘sod all that, its my time.’
Albon shock return to Red Bull?
Red Bull shareholders now making driver lineup decisions – Max Verstappen has finally confirmed he will remain at Red Bull Racing for the 2026 Formula One season. Last time out in Hungary, he put wildfire rumours to bed that he would be joining the Mercedes team next season.
That said, Verstappen had done his fair share of stoking the fires of suspicion, by refusing week after week to give a direct answer when asked about where he would be racing in future. Now the Verstappen drama is resolved, the attention will fall upon his team mate Yuki Tsunoda who is more than struggling with the difficult RB21.
Tsunoda with just seven points since joining Red Bull in round three this year, is heading to become the Red Bull team mate who makes the least contribution to the team’s championship since Verstappen joined the team in 2016. He replaced Liam Lawson, who was initially recruited to replace Mexican driver Sergio Perez, but survived just two race weekends…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
