McLaren has plans to review whether Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s opening-lap battle in Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix adhered to the team’s rules of engagement.
Norris appeared to have banished his wretched start record when lining up on pole position as he made a strong start to retain his advantage over team-mate Piastri.
However, Norris lost the lead when Piastri completed a bold move round the outside at the Turn 4/5 chicane, which Charles Leclerc capitalised on to rise into second.
That proved to be a vital moment as Norris came home behind Piastri in third place, as Leclerc then executed a superb one-stop strategy to beat the McLaren drivers.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella has admitted that it will have to decide whether Piastri’s overtake cohered with the team’s rules when it comes to the two racing on track.
Asked whether Piastri’s pass complied with McLaren’s ‘Papaya Rules’, Stella responded: “We will have to review together with the drivers, with the videos.
“Understand their point of view and then we will assess together whether they were fully compliant or not.
“We will take the learning, if there is any learning they need to take, and then we will apply the ‘papaya rules’ such that they allow us to pursue in the best possible manner both the constructors’ championship and the drivers’ championship
Stella has acknowledged that McLaren’s recent competitiveness and Red Bull’s comparative woes have made clinching both championships in 2024 a realistic target.
“We have to now be in the condition to acknowledge that not only the Constructors’ Championship is possible,” he accepted.
“But even from the driver’s point of view, with the performance that we have in the car and some of the struggle we see with Red Bull, it is definitely possible.
“So if we can achieve both as a team we need to, if we are going to achieve both, we need to put the team in condition and Lando in condition to win both championships.”
The Italian has suggested that the Woking-based squad is still learning how to balance giving both racers equal opportunities alongside maximising its title prospects.
“I don’t want to be too specific because the way that you go racing, the conversations and the agreements that you have with your drivers, they are part of your IP,” he said.
“We want to be open, transparent and give everyone understanding of what is going on, but we want to retain some sort of confidentiality for ourselves.
“I think I have given enough already a sense of how these rules are generated, because we want to retain integrity and fairness in the way we go racing.
“We want to apply common sense, but at the same time we definitely want to be in the fight for both championships.”
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