‘Hard ask’ McLaren face amid Piastri title threat

McLaren is without a doubt a red-hot chance to win both the constructors’ and drivers’ F1 titles in 2024.
In possession of the fastest car on the grid, the team trails Red Bull by just eight points and is odds-on to take the lead at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Lando Norris also trails Max Verstappen by 62 points.
Oscar Piastri is fourth, 106 points behind Verstappen, but is as fast, if not arguably slightly faster at times than Norris.
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Although Piastri remains a mathematical chance to win the title, the team’s best chance undoubtedly lies with Norris.
McLaren have never liked enforcing team orders, historically preferring to keep their two drivers on equal footing, and for them to sort themselves out on-track.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Getty
Team orders are also unpopular with fans.
But according to former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, the time has come for McLaren to ditch the tradition and throw their support fully behind Norris, and has a simple message for McLaren chief executive Zak Brown.
“How many times in your lifetime have you got the chance to win a world championship? Not many,” he said on the Red Flags podcast.
“Now they got the chance, and they cannot decide who is number one, who is number two, who is overtaking whom.
“We need to tell Zak, ‘f— the Papaya rules, go and win the championship’.”
Piastri leading Charles Leclerc and Norris early in the Italian Grand Prix. NurPhoto via Getty Images
The world was introduced to ‘Papaya rules’ during the Italian Grand Prix. They’re evidently the team’s internal rules of engagement, although the details they’ve given the public are vague.
Oscar Piastri’s move around the outside of Norris on the opening lap without a doubt cost Norris points in his battle with Max Verstappen. But according to the Papaya rules, or at least the ones released to the public, he did nothing wrong. He’s a racer, after all.
World champion Nico Rosberg said as much on the Sky Sports F1 podcast. He said it would be a “hard ask” for McLaren to ask Piastri to yield to Norris.
And the Brit wouldn’t want it that way either.
“In Lando’s situation you want to win races on merit and not because your teammate helps you,” the 2016 world champion said.
Piastri has been arguably as quick, if not quicker than Norris in recent races. Getty
“(Piastri’s Monza move), for example? You wouldn’t see it as your teammate helping you if the team said ‘calm down, hold position to keep the Ferraris behind’.
“It is hard on Oscar. Because he will have a No.1 contract. It won’t say in his contract ‘you need to help Lando’.
“He’s driving brilliantly also. He deserves every opportunity to get race wins. Mathematically he can still be world champion. He’s not that far behind Lando.
“It’s a hard ask for Oscar to start forfeiting race wins, potentially.”
But as Red Bull battle a severe drop in performance the team is struggling to understand, Norris can absolutely win both championships – the first time the team would’ve done so since 1998.
Steiner believes the team orders must be introduced, even if it means upsetting the young Aussie.
“How many times in life can you win two championships in one season?” Steiner posed.
“… In the moment when you’ve got the chance to win two championships, constructors’ and drivers’, I think you just need to (do) whatever it is, even if one guy is unhappy.
“I don’t know, do you have to pay money, do you have to make him promises for next year? Whatever, in my opinion, whatever you need to do, you do. Because these moments are not coming up often in Formula 1.”
Qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix begins on Saturday night (AEST), before the grand prix at 9pm Sunday.