Ex-F1 Team Boss Urges McLaren to SCRAP Papaya Rules and Prioritize Oscar Piastri
Guenther Steiner asserted that McLaren must get rid of the team orders between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris and prioritize Piastri.
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Oscar Piastri, Zak Brown and Lando Norris (via Getty)
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McLaren has emerged as the most dominant team on the grid in the 2025 season and has already won the constructors’ championship with six races to go. However, the driver’s title is a completely different story as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are fighting for it. With Piastri’s lead decreasing every race, ex-F1 Team Boss Guenther Steiner has urged Woking to get rid of the Papaya Rules and help out Piastri.
The most recent Singapore GP was run under some controversial decisions from the McLaren squad. Lando Norris made a questionable move on Oscar Piastri on Lap 1 and caused the latter to lose his P3 position. Despite some comments on the team radio by Piastri, the team did not help him and let Norris keep the position, ultimately finishing in P3. Because of this, the point difference between the two was cut down to just 22 points with six races left in the season.
Guenther Steiner provided his two cents on the matter and insisted that McLaren should not change the ‘Papaya Rules’ out of the blue on race day. Steiner noted that either the drivers are allowed to fight freely on track or take the tough decision and let one driver lose out on the championship. The Italian highlighted that McLaren must prioritize Oscar Piastri simply because he has more points than Norris.
Papaya rules, which nobody knows what they are, if they even exist, but you change them around and one day it’s like this. Either you let them race or if you’re getting worried to lose the world championship, you have to make the call, You have to tell one guy, and obviously that one guy is Oscar in the moment because he has got more points than Lando.
Guenther Steiner said on the Red Flags podcast.
Guenther Steiner explained that he had nothing against Lando Norris and him winning the title, but Oscar Piastri had simply put himself in a better position for two-thirds of the season. McLaren must at one point help Piastri win the title, because if it didn’t, he wouldn’t be too happy with the team. Subsequently, the team might risk having two unhappy drivers if they decided to favor neither of them for the title.
I’m sorry, and it’s nothing against Lando. Oscar put himself in the first two-thirds of the races in a better position. Now it’s ‘you go and win the world championship’ because if they lose the drivers’ world championship now, I wouldn’t be happy. And then you have got two unhappy drivers, at least if you favour one, you’ve got only one unhappy driver.
Guenther Steiner added.
McLaren did not put up a ‘world champion show’ at Singapore GP
Guenther Steiner applauded McLaren and their dominant constructors’ title win in the Singapore GP, following a fantastic job. However, he emphasized that the team did not put up a world champion show in Singapore, especially because of the fiasco between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Steiner reckoned that both drivers were performing well, but the team had to decide at one point to either keep full rules or no rules at all.
I would say first of all, a fantastic job, But what they put on in Singapore was not a world championship show. The car performance was good, but with the drivers at some stage, either you have rules or you don’t have rules.
Guenther Steiner noted.
The drivers’ title battle is far from over, and Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will give it their all in the final six races. However, as explained by Steiner, McLaren should decide on who to prioritize between Piastri and Norris. Hence, time will tell which driver manages to emerge victorious in the title at the end of the 2025 season.
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