“Duke It out!” Martin Brundle Urges McLaren to Get Rid of Papaya Rules Amidst Heated Lando Norris-Oscar Piastri Duel

The championship battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri has started to heat up to its pinnacle. Norris’ questionable move on Piastri at the recent Singaporean GP means that the latter will now give it his all and probably ignore team orders in the final six races. Even ex-F1 driver Martin Brundle suggests the Woking-based constructor get rid of the ‘Papaya Rules’ amid the inter-team battle for the 2025 title.

McLaren had assured that they wouldn’t interfere between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri fighting on the track with Papaya Rules, to give both of them a fair shot at the title. However, the team backed down on their words and demanded Piastri give back the P2 spot to Norris at the Italian GP after a botched pitstop. This wasn’t the case at the Singapore GP as the Briton’s Lap 1 antics were not looked at with similar severity.

Oscar Piastri wasn’t too impressed with McLaren favoring Lando Norris and his moves on track, and not him. As such, Martin Brundle now believes that the team must stop intervening between the two drivers. The Briton suggested that McLaren let the two drivers duke it out on track themselves with zero interference from the team.

Martin Brundle continued that even if there was a major conflict between any of the parties involved, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris would still have to finish races, score points, and avoid penalties. As such, both of them wouldn’t go too far in terms of fighting for a better finish on the racetrack and keep their battle safe and friendly. Moreover, with Woking already winning their second title, they would not worry much about the overall points for the team.

Perhaps McLaren should now just let their two drivers duke it out, gloves off, between themselves with zero interference. Any nuclear fallout will be tempered by the need to finish races, score points, avoid FIA in-race penalties, avoid Verstappen catching the pair of them, and running out of the latest specification of parts as the team focuses on 2026.

Martin Brundle told Sky Sports F1.

Martin Brundle reveals ‘dynamics’ change between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

McLaren has clearly remained dominant in performance since the beginning of the season. Although they have won the constructors’ title, the driver’s title is far from over. Moreover, Max Verstappen has surprisingly joined the mix for fighting for the title down the season. As such, after Singapore GP’s antics, Martin Brundle believes there will be a change in the Woking operations dynamic.

Martin Brundle reckoned that Oscar Piastri tried to appeal to McLaren to sort the ‘no contact’ rule between the two teammates. However, the team declined to cooperate, and Piastri would definitely have lashed out in the post-race debrief.

Brundle raised no doubts over the irrevocable change in Piastri and Lando Norris’ mindset for the rest of the season. The Briton insisted that the dynamics between the two drivers changed as well after the Singapore race.

Piastri appealed to the team to sort that out given the ‘no contact’ rules between them, which they declined, It would have been a feisty post-race team debrief, and I have no doubt whatsoever that the dynamics between the two McLaren drivers will irrevocably change going forward. It was just a matter of time.

Martin Brundle noted

The 2025 season of Formula 1 now only has six races left until completion. Oscar Piastri is leading the title with just 22 points, which can be reduced in a matter of a few races. Moreover, Max Verstappen is 63 points adrift of the lead from Piastri. The season finale is definitely going to be extremely enticing, especially if the title can be won by either of the three drivers by then.

Read More: Ex-F1 Champion Jenson Button Reveals the ‘Mega Mental Game Win’ Lando Norris Got over Oscar Piastri at Singapore GP

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