Verstappen is right: McLaren brought this upon itself

Criticism of McLaren — whose so-called ‘papaya rules’ have made the team anything but popular with fans — has been ongoing for some time. The rules, which state that Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris can race each other without making contact, have become more and more complicated weekend after weekend. The outside world, as a result, sees opportunities increase as unrest within McLaren grows.

In Austin, a new chapter was added to the already incomprehensible handbook, the 'papaya rules.' After the Singapore Grand Prix, there was surprise that Norris got away with his manoeuvre on Piastri. The team had always stood for fair racing, and Piastri was angered by his teammate's action. After the race, however, Norris had a completely different view: according to him, 'if you fault him, then you shouldn't be in F1.'

Two weeks later, Norris' opinion was quashed, as the Briton said he was 'held accountable' by McLaren. His move on Piastri on the first lap at the Marina Bay Street Circuit is not how McLaren wants to race internally.

There would be consequences for Norris. Bringing that up obviously prompts questions, but McLaren apparently didn't anticipate this. Both Norris, Piastri and Zak Brown mentioned the repercussions, but they all failed to say what they were.

When Norris shared his story talking to international media, you could tell that the driver speaking was someone who didn't fully agree with taking the blame for what happened.

Piastri also spoke up, and felt that Norris had got away with it too easily. After all, Norris remained in third place and gained on him in the championship.

McLaren talks about repercussions for Norris that will have sporting consequences. How will they do that? No one knows. Does Norris have old parts or does he get five kilograms of extra weight on his car? Does he have to let Piastri overtake him in Austin at all times? No one knows.

In Austin, it was perhaps Verstappen who best described the situation at McLaren: "They did kind of bring this on themselves." That is certainly the case. A full F1 season can't be scripted and a title isn't always won in a fair manner.

When Norris and Piastri were confronted with Verstappen's statements, it became clear that the two drivers feel the same deep down. Norris admitted that he would probably say the same from the outside, and Piastri said that he often thinks that McLaren makes it too difficult in the car.

After an incident, McLaren is very good at justifying their decision making process, but that doesn't normalise the situation. They are making it extremely difficult for themselves with all the rules, trying to justify them constantly, but under the increasing pressure of the championship, it will be the drivers who will show how long they can support this racing approach.

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