McLaren have won the constructors’ championship but Oscar Piastri has sounded fed up since qualifying at Monza, and with the ‘papaya rules’. Is it time the drivers’ title actually becomes a more gloves-off, not-so-friendly fight? – Nick
The conversations at McLaren following the Singapore Grand Prix are certainly going to be long and involved, and may well be tense.
Oscar Piastri made it clear during the race that he was not happy with the fact Lando Norris had collided with him in his overtaking move at Turn Three, and clearly questioned whether it complied with the team’s internal code of conduct governing on-track battles.
As Piastri put it: “That wasn’t very team-like, but sure. Are we cool with Lando just barging me out of the way?”
When he was told the team would take no action in the race, but would review it afterwards, Piastri said that was “not fair”.
This follows the Italian Grand Prix, when Piastri was ordered to give second place back to Norris, after the Briton lost it because of a slow pit stop.
And Hungary, where Norris was allowed to switch to a one-stop strategy and ended up beating his team-mate despite being three places behind him after a difficult first lap.
And Canada, where Norris drove into the back of Piastri but immediately accepted blame.
In this situation, it’s easy to see why Piastri could feel hard done by, although he insisted after the race he was not concerned Norris was getting preferential treatment.
It remains to be seen, of course, what Piastri says about Singapore when he gets to the next race in Austin, Texas.
So far, both McLaren drivers have bought into the team’s philosophy.
Fundamentally, that is that the team should be fair and equitable and the drivers are allowed to race, on the proviso they don’t compromise the team’s interests. Essentially, that means don’t crash into each other.
After Singapore, both Norris and team principal Andrea Stella said nothing would change on that front now the constructors’ championship is sewn up.
The team still want to win the drivers’ championship, and Max Verstappen is still a threat, albeit a distant one, so Piastri and Norris can’t throw caution to the wind.
They also want to beat each other, and the outcome of any contact is always uncertain in F1.
So, while it seems likely that the tension will increase between Piastri and Norris as the championship fight comes to a head, any decision to start throwing punches on track, so to speak, would come with risk.
Crashes also cost money, of course.
