McLaren Clarifies Racing Rules After Piastri, Norris Clash

Oscar Piastri has revealed that McLaren has clarified their racing rules after his clash with teammate Lando Norris following their swap in the Italian Grand Prix.

McLaren’s ‘papaya rules’ of racing conduct between the teammates were put under scrutiny at the last race when a slow pit stop for Norris, at the time their lead car in second place, dropped him behind Piastri, who had enjoyed a trouble-free service a lap earlier.

The team swiftly instructed Piastri to give the place back, which he did, and the original order was restored behind Red Bull’s runaway race winner Max Verstappen, with Norris trimming his teammate’s title lead to 31 points.

The decision was a subject of criticism from other drivers.

Piastri confirmed that the team clarified the rules after the race on Sunday.

He said, “We’ve had good discussions with the team. It was obviously a highly talked-about moment.

“We have clarified a lot of things, and we know how we are going to go racing going forward, which is the most important thing.

“What’s happened is done, and I’m excited to go racing again.

“I think we’ve had a lot of discussions about how we want to go racing, and a lot of that is to stay for us because, ultimately, if we give out that information, we will become very easy targets to pick off because everyone knows what we will do.

“That’s all very aligned with all of us but stays in-house.”

Piastri is 31 points clear of Norris going into this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, round 17 of 24, which could secure McLaren’s second successive constructors’ title.

The Australian driver has won nine Formula One Grands Prix across three seasons.