Much has been written about the title fight now exclusively being fought out between the two McLaren drivers. Such duels in Formula One history have rarely ended well. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso battled for the drivers’ crown in 2007, but their on track antics handed the victory to Kimi Raikkonen and it remains the last Ferrari drivers championship.
Last year in Monza, the McLaren duo locked out the front row with Norris on pole, but an opportunistic moment into the second chicane on the opening lap saw Piastri wriggle past his team mate which opened the door for Charles Leclerc.
With the Monegasque now in prime position, he executed a one stop race to steal away the victory from the McLaren pair. The result was the first mention of the now infamous “papaya rules” which govern the way Piastri and Norris go racing.
“Papaya rules” tested to the full
The first rule explained Zak Brown is the team comes first, which clearly was not the case last time out in Monza. Piastri’s move on his team mate opened the door for a Ferrari win. The rules simply state, the drivers may race each other hard but fair and in 2025 they have been tested to the limit.
Lando Norris in Canada crashed into the back of his team mate, yet fortunately for the Aussie his car was not damaged and he went on to finish the race. A frustrated Piastri in Austria tried twice to pass Lando into turn four, locking up and missing his team mate who was leading the race by a matter of inches.
In Hungary, the team had to remind Oscar of the rules of engagement as a penultimate lap nose dive into turn one almost went horribly wrong. In Monza this weekend Norris had messed up in Q2 and his final run was critical for him to progress into there top ten shootout. The team asked Piastri to ‘give him a tow’ and the Australian obliged.
Stellla questions how long sportsmanship will last
McLaren boss Andrea Stella once again praised the professionalism that defines the relationship between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, though he admits such harmony may prove temporary as the title fight tightens its grip on the team.
“For some reason, as soon as Tom asked Oscar, I knew Oscar was going to do it,” Andrea Stella reflected afterwards. “I think that’s the quality of the individuals behind the drivers that we have at McLaren. It’s the foundation of the way we go racing. If it’s the last race in Abu Dhabi, will we see the same? I can’t say, but at the moment I’m just very proud that these things happen, that Lando and Oscar go racing like they do.”
Stella did go on to suggest the tow from Oscar was not decisive, “but in itself it’s a nice gesture of fairness and sportsmanship that we do like to see.” A relatively small gesture in the grand scheme of things but it does underline for now the rivalry is under control.
Verstappen over rules his engineers for Monza qualifying
McLaren boss ponders driver rebellion
Still, Stella knows better than most that gestures of goodwill tend to vanish once championship points become decisive. Asked whether he would object if one driver refused to assist the other in future, he surprisingly admitted there are limits to etiquette.
“It’s within the rights of the driver to say I’m not going to do it this time,” he said. “I would consider it potentially not the most elegant move, but sometimes racing doesn’t necessarily require elegance as long as you operate within the principles and the rules of the team.”
With Piastri now well clear in the drivers’ title race the dynamic may well shift as the Aussie seeks to protect his lead at all costs. Speaking to Sky Sport’s in Monza, Nico Rosberg reflected on how it felt when he was battling Hamilton his team mate for a title. “I was in this situation that they’re in, fighting for a world championship,” Rosberg admitted.
Rosberg admits extra pressure of leading
“When I was the favourite, I remember I was not able to win races anymore, because I was just so scared of losing the championship, because it’s all mine to lose. The other guy is almost out of it.
“That fear of messing up, and the pressure, just builds, and you’re so close to your big dream that you start to make a little bit more mistakes, and driving becomes more difficult, because mentally, you don’t have the same capacity,” said the 2016 F1 champion driver.
Such was the bitter rivalry that year, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff even swapped the driver’s pit lane mechanics to diffuse the intensity in the garage. Speaking to the Indo Sport podcast, former F1 driver David Coulthard mocked the idea of a smooth run in for the McLaren team mates.
“Hooligan Herta” backed by Lando Norris
Coulthard: “He’s not your mate”
“[Team-mates], 100%. It’s a misnomer. He’s not your mate. He’s your biggest rival,” Coulthard explained on the Indo Sport podcast. “He is the person that your success is his failure and vice versa. And you take pleasure in their failure. It’s as simple as that because it leads and builds. You’re hoping that it psychologically creates a problem for them that will give you an edge.
“So in that respect, any sportsman or woman or any sports person will completely understand that you cannot feel pleasure in someone else’s success when you’re trying to beat them. You can admire them, you can shake their hand and show your sporting respect, but if you’re happy for your competitor to beat you, you’re not wired right.
Whilst McLaren may not need to deploy the Toto Wolff playbook, even Stella admits the current sportsmanship will be under threat as Abu Dhabi get ever closer.
McLaren cheeky requires of Alpine over junior driver
The year was 2022 and as the summer break began all hell broke loose in the Formula One driver market. Having failed to secure a contract extension from his Alpine team, Fernando Alonso fired the starting gun by announcing he was leaving to join Aston Martin.
The Spaniard was to replace Sebastian Vettel who had indicated his retirement in the run up to the Hungarian Grand Prix late in July. Alpine’s response was swift as they revealed on social media that Alonso’s replacement would be their junior driver Oscar Piastri.
Yet just ninety minutes later, Piastri responded with shocking effect and maximum embarrassment to the chiefs in Enstone. “This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”…… READ MORE
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
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What a joke ……..
Making Oscar let Norris past because he had a bad pit stop.
Disgusting