The return of the papaya rules
One of the great curiosities surrounding McLaren’s 2026 season is the internal dynamic between the two pilotsafter all the discussions and decisions – more or less acceptable – that the Woking team took during the last championship. Despite some obvious moments of tension Norris and Piastri they managed to make their relationship survive the controversies ‘papaya rules’. However, the problem could arise again this year, even more so when thinking about the #1 that Norris wears on the nose of his MCL40 and which inevitably gives him a different status compared to that of his teammate.
The issue also emerged during the press conference in Melbourne and Piastri was asked if and how the outcome of last season had an impact on his way of understanding team orders. In his response, Piastri was very diplomatic and while highlighting some critical issues that emerged in the 2025 season, he reiterated that he had no intention of getting into an argument with his team.
Rebellion? No thank you
“From my point of view we will always race in the interest of the team – commented the Australian – we have always had the freedom to race also for our individual results. Maybe on some occasions we didn’t always make the perfect decision, but the important thing is that there was never any bad intention in this. We’ve learned a lot about things we can do differently and things we can do better. But I have nothing to prove. I certainly have no intention of rebelling or something like that – he concluded – Why a pretty quick way to ensure you don’t win a championship is to go against your own teamso I don’t think it’s a very wise move. We discussed and worked on the things we can improve this year.”.
