Lewis Hamilton breaks silence on McLaren’s call to remove Papaya rules from Azerbaijan GP

In recent times McLaren's papaya rules have been one of the most talked about topics in Formula 1.

Lewis Hamilton breaks silence on McLaren’s call to remove Papaya rules from Azerbaijan GP

Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris (images via IMAGO)

Lewis Hamilton‘s former team, McLaren is in contention for the world title for the first time over a decade. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been fighting for victories at almost every race. Now, the Woking-based squad has decided to back Norris to defeat Max Verstappen in the title fight. Hamilton expressed his opinion over the team’s decision.

The seven-time world champion has a special place for McLaren, labeling it as his ‘old family.’ Lewis Hamilton mentioned that he was delighted to see the Woking-based squad get back to the front of the grid in the pinnacle of motorsport.

McLaren… it’s my old family and I’m just really happy to see them back up there.
Lewis Hamilton said
YouTube video

The 39-year-old reckoned that it has been a while since McLaren has battled for the championship. As such, the situation was new for the team as it now has a completely different leadership structure than it did a decade ago. Nevertheless, Lewis Hamilton insisted that the team has been doing well so far, potentially hinting at the removal of the Papaya rules.

FS Video
it's probably been a long time since they've been in that position so, this is all newer... I think they’ve been handling it well.
Lewis Hamilton explained
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Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Lewis Hamilton claims only ‘natural’ for McLaren to make mistakes

McLaren faced criticism from the entire F1 grid for letting Piastri and Norris race one another at every race. Now, as the team decides to enforce team orders, Hamilton insisted that it was natural for them to make mistakes. However, Lewis Hamilton made it clear that he was not in a position to give a black and white response over the team’s situation regarding its drivers.

Oscar Piastri [L], Lando Norris [R] (image via IMAGO)
Oscar Piastri [L], Lando Norris [R] (image via IMAGO)
Naturally, like everyone that’s challenging for wins and for a championship, mistakes will be made. Again, I’m not running the team so I can’t say when, if they should’ve or shouldn’t have [called papaya rules].
Lewis Hamilton stated

Certainly, fans can expect a more straightforward fight between Norris and Verstappen in the title fight. However, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have shown promising pace which could turn things around as well. As such, it remains to be seen how things pan out in the coming weeks.

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