McLaren is seriously considering to change ‘papaya rules’ in favor of Lando Norris
Tereza Hořínková
News.gp journalist and a girl with big dreams
There is a 62 point gap between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in the Driver’s Championship but McLaren is the one looking stronger at this point. The Papaya team stands behind and opinion that, they don’t have a number one driver, however, with Lando Norris potentially being able to win the title, they are seriously considering to prioritize him from now on.
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Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had a side by side battle on the opening lap of the Italian Grand Prix this weekend, with the Australian forcing his way past pole-sitter Norris and eventually finishing ahead of the Brit.
“Papaya rules are it’s your team mate; race him hard, race him clean, don’t touch, that happened. It was an aggressive pass so that’s a conversation we’ll have, that was a bit nerve wracking on pit wall but it’s really just respect your team mate," said Zak Brown.
"Lando got a bad run out of that corner as well so it would have been nice to see them run one-two a bit longer. They didn’t touch, it was an aggressive pass but a clean pass,” he added.
McLaren left Monza with 34 points and found themselves only 8 points behind Red Bull in the Constructor’s Championship, which will probably go their way, if Red Bull doesn’t improve and fix problems with their car.
Papaya family. 🧡#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/7nHN2jl6av
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) September 1, 2024
However, with the RB20 not working the way Red Bull wants, even the reigning champion Max Verstappen is struggling. The most he could get out of his car in Monza was P6 and left Italy with twice less points than Norris, meaning that the British driver is now only 62 points behind Verstappen in the Driver’s Championship.
McLaren has always stand behind an opinion, that they will never have a number one driver, however, with both of the Championship’s titles being reachable at this point, they are facing a tough decision. If they want to win the Driver’s Championship as well, they have to prioritize the driver, who is higher in the standings and that is Lando Norris.
“They are both young drivers who want to win, we have always believed in having two number ones, that’s always been McLaren’s way, it can be difficult to manage – we’ve seen it with Senna and Prost,” Zak Brown said.
McLaren's Team Pripal, Andrea Stella, then told the media: “If we can achieve both [championships], we need to put the team and Lando in [a] position to pursue both championships.”
“So if we want to give support to one driver, we have to pick the one in the best position,” he added.
