Piastri insists papaya-rules were right call in McLaren championship battle

16:01, 20 Jan

byDrew Murphy

Oscar Piastri has downplayed the disruption “papaya-rules” caused in the garage during his drivers’ championship battle with teammate Lando Norris.

"It's a much smaller discussion and smaller deal than what it gets made out to be."

- Oscar Piastri

The Australian has insisted that the idea of “papaya-rules” was a good plan despite the unhappiness of the drivers throughout the 2025 Formula 1 season.

norris-piastri-mclaren-constructors-singapore-jpg

Photo: RacePictures

Both Piastri and Norris had a successful season with McLaren, and it quickly emerged that they would be the favourites for the title.

Due to both drivers being neck and neck at the top of the standings, all eyes fell on the management to see if one would be favoured more than the other.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella insisted that both drivers were being allowed to race openly.

“Papaya-rules” remained a talking point right to the very end of the season when Norris clinched the title in Abu Dhabi.

Piastri plays down internal tension

Speaking to Today, Piastri shared what the feeling was from his side of the garage.

Piastri said: “It gets talked about a lot. I think behind the scenes, it's a much smaller discussion and smaller deal than what it gets made out to be.

Photo: RacePictures

“But we've got our ways of going racing and it's constantly evolving.

“We'll do a review, and we already have reviewed, you know, do we want to do things exactly the same? Do we want to change things a bit?

“So yeah, we'll get a handle on that fully before we go racing again.

“But I think for me, the intentions were always in the right place and we'll do some tweaking if we feel we need it to try and make life a bit easier for ourselves.”

What Piastri took from the 2025 season

Piastri discussed what he learnt from the 2025 season and the heartbreak of missing out on the drivers’ championship.

He said: "There's a lot of different ways you can take the 2025 season. But I think for me, I learned a lot about myself both on and off the track.

"I feel like I really developed quite a lot as a person. And I feel more mature. I feel more responsible. I know what I want a bit more now. And also just a sense of pride.

"Even though the end result wasn't exactly what I wanted, I think to have the amount of success that I had was something that I would have dreamed of at the start of the year."

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