Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in Singapore - Photo: Race Pictures

Palmer: McLaren’s papaya rules have become their ‘own manipulation’

07:52, 08 Oct

byOlly Darcy

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer believes that McLaren is "getting themselves into a problem" with its own "manipulation" as its 'papaya rules' are questioned.

"They have to let the drivers race. This is the moment. I think we're going to see gloves off in the championship."

- Jolyon Palmer on McLaren's 'papaya rules'

It comes after Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris made contact at the Singapore Grand Prix, with the latter coming from behind and colliding with his teammate to make the move past, which Norris held until the end of the Grand Prix.

Piastri vented his frustration over the Brit's move across the team radio, and after the Grand Prix, the Australian skipped McLaren's podium celebrations at the Marina Bay Street Circuit as the 'papaya rules' saga goes on.

"Question on this, and it was a question that Oscar Piastri was asking as well, is whether Lando and Oscar should have swapped like they did in Monza? My fundamental answer is no," explained Palmer on his F1 TV Analysis on YouTube.

norris-piastri-collision-mclaren-singapore-gp-f1

Lando Norris collided with Oscar Piastri at the start of the Singapore GP - Photo: RacePictures.

"But I don't think they should have swapped in Monza. I think this is the problem that McLaren are getting themselves into here with their manipulation of what they deem fair. The difficulty is that they're kind of acting as their own race stewards between the two drivers.

"I can understand Oscar asking for it. The contact certainly put him off. It certainly cemented the move for Lando. But in my opinion, that's hard wheel-to-wheel racing. Little touches happen on the first lap. The stewards looked at it and sensibly thought there was nothing more in that.

"I can understand Oscar feeling a little bit aggrieved at this point, but I think in this instance, they were right to let the drivers race on. I think they should have done that in Monza. The question is what happens now moving forward? They have to let the drivers race. This is the moment. I think we're going to see gloves off in the championship," the Brit concluded.

Piastri comes under fire after incident

There was plenty more reaction to the lap 1 incident that played out in Singapore, with many agreeing with Palmer about the nature of the incident.

2009 world champion Jenson Button stated, "If I were Oscar, I would be like, ‘ah, my teammate got the better of me there!’ And that’s it.", while F1 analyst Peter Windsor slammed the use of 'papaya rules', calling it a "complete and utter mess".

There was also a shift in some predictions for the world championship, with former F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella saying that he would choose Norris as his 2025 champion because "he's more experienced than Piastri."

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