McLaren's approach to helping Lando Norris with so-called ‘papaya rules’ in his battle for the world champion title seems to be changing as the season heads into its final races.

Earlier in the year, McLaren focused on supporting Norris in his bid to beat Max Verstappen, with Oscar Piastri stepping aside when needed to help his teammate score more points. This included giving up the sprint race victory and letting Norris take the lead in the main race at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

However, after Verstappen's impressive victory at Interlagos, when he clinched the victory after starting from 17th place, Norris’s chances of winning the title have almost disappeared.

Therefore, with the championship nearly out of reach for Norris, McLaren has decided to change its strategy and Piastri has been told that he can now focus on chasing race wins for himself, although there may still be some situations where he will help Norris if needed.

When asked if McLaren's position on team orders had changed since Brazil, the Australian said: “Pretty much, yes.

“There's still some, let's say, very specific scenarios where I might be needed to help out. But for the very large majority of situations, it's back to how it was.

“The drivers’ championship picture is very slim, and the constructors’ championship is certainly not over for us.

“It's certainly not a done deal, so that's definitely the biggest thing. So it's a very specific few scenarios that maybe I'll still help out if that's what I'm asked to do, but I'm going into the weekend trying to win.”

The current gap between Norris and Verstappen is 62 points. To stay in contention, Norris needs a strong result in the Las Vegas Grand Prix and hopes that Verstappen has a bad race. If Norris can reduce the gap to less than 60 points, the championship will stay alive for the final two races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.