Oscar Piastri Set to Demand Amendments to McLaren’ Papaya Rules For “Fair Championship fight” in 2026

Oscar Piastri highlighted that McLaren was bound to have extended discussions on the Papaya Rules and making it fair for both in 2026.

Oscar Piastri Set to Demand Amendments to McLaren’ Papaya Rules For “Fair Championship fight” in 2026

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri (via DPPI)

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McLaren remained under intense fire from the fans because of an alleged British bias within the team with Lando Norris. Many believed that Oscar Piastri was put at a disadvantage against Norris because of the Papaya Rules.

Though Piastri denied any such possibilities, there was still negativity being hurled towards the team. Now, for the 2026 season, the Aussie is believed to set a precedent and decline any team orders from the get-go.

Since the beginning of the 2025 season, Oscar Piastri had claimed that he would race his teammate hard on the track for the title win. Even McLaren refused to intervene with team orders and let both drivers fight it out on the track.

However, the team backtracked on their decision and asked the drivers to swap positions at the Italian GP, thus causing criticism towards Woking. As such, the Aussie now hints at having extended discussions on the ‘Papaya Rules’ and their use going forward in the near future.

Oscar Piastri pointed out that the Papaya Rules were a testament to the way McLaren went racing with both equally competitive drivers out on the track. Further, Piastri accepted that it wasn’t going to be easy to fight for both championships, especially with two evenly matched drivers. However, the Aussie reckoned that the team was aware that this problem would creep up in their team sooner or later.

I think it is a testament to the way we go racing, Obviously, it’s not easy fighting for both the Constructors’ Championship and the Drivers’ Championship with two very evenly matched drivers. But ultimately, that’s a problem we knew we were going to have.

Oscar Piastri said, as reported by RacingNews365.

Further, Oscar Piastri accepted that the Papaya Rules had been uncomfortable for everyone in the team at times, sabotaging their race strategies just to not give one driver an advantage over the other.

Regardless, Piastri believed that it was a good thing at the end of the day. Still, the Aussie noted that McLaren already had a lot of discussions on this matter, and they would have some more in the coming season as well.

Sometimes that’s been uncomfortable for everyone, but ultimately, yeah, it’s been a good thing. We’ve had a lot of discussions throughout the year, and I’m sure we’ll have discussions in the off-season about anything we want to do slightly differently for next year. 

Oscar Piastri added.

Oscar Piastri assures McLaren gave both drivers “fair chance” to fight for the title

McLaren was accused of being biased towards their British driver, Lando Norris, which was quickly shut down by Oscar Piastri. Though the Aussie made a mysterious post on social media talking about unfairness at McLaren, he still refused this possibility.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri (via Getty)
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri (via Getty)

As such, after finishing in P3 in the driver’s title standing because of the team orders, Piastri still claimed that the team gave both drivers a fair chance at the title. Oscar Piastri reassured that at the end of the day, McLaren gave both drivers as good a chance as possible while helping both maximize results as well.

The 24-year-old reckoned that this was all he could ask for as the team did not put one driver over the other. Now, the upcoming regulations in 2026 would be exciting to witness as none of the teams seem to have a clear advantage over the rivals just yet.

I think at the end of the day, they gave us both as good a chance as the team could have to fairly fight for a world championship, and that’s all you can ask for.

Oscar Piastri noted.

McLaren took some time before it started dominating the grid during the ground-effect era. Though their form in the 2025 season could set a great benchmark for the upcoming regulations, their performance is still a big unknown. As such, it would be exciting to witness if the rivals give a tough fight to Woking in the coming seasons and make the battle for both titles exciting.

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