McLaren’s 2025 Formula 1 season has often been overshadowed by the infamous ‘Papaya rules’; however, Oscar Piastri believes the relationship between himself and Lando Norris has been strengthened.
Despite being team-mates, Piastri and Norris remain each other’s main championship rivals, and have been effectively since the season began.
With occasional bumps along the season, such as Norris’ collision with Piastri in Canada and Singapore and the infamous team orders incident at Monza, there have been reasons for contention that the team has had to deal with.
While this may cause a rift between the pair, the Aussie driver has emphasised that if anything, their relationship has strengthened in 2025.
“I think it’s either exactly the same or, honestly, probably better than it has been,” Piastri told the Beyond the Grid podcast.
“It’s better, if anything, because we just know each other more now we’ve been together for our third year as team-mates, so we just slowly got to know each other more and more.
Evidently, McLaren’s pairing has largely avoided fallout between the pair, and the 24-year-old emphasised that while frustrations arise, they are quick to reset and look ahead.
“Maybe there are short-lived emotions off the track, but I think we’re both quite good at just letting things die down and again, leaving things on the track.
Piastri: ‘Default’ setting of ‘team first’ has helped McLaren
Piastri was quick to credit McLaren for their controversial technique to manage the intra-team battle. Whilst the Woking-based squad faces backlash, Piastri has had nothing but praise for the strategy.
The Australian believes that, while disputed, ‘Papaya Rules’ has created a team culture of unity and fairness.
“I don’t think it’s that difficult, really. It is the way we’ve always operated,” Piastri said.
“When that’s your default, ultimately, you need to do something different to kind of not treat each other equally, which is probably more difficult in some ways.”
This strategy has polarised fans and pundits throughout the season, with some arguing the approach limits the racing between two young stars. Yet Piastri argues the opposite.
The clarity provided by the framework from the team has prevented tensions from spiralling. Ensuring both drivers know how to approach team-mate battles.
“The team has done as good a job as they can of trying to be fair and trying to treat each other equally.
“We’ve been free to race for the year, which is nice for us to have it in our own hands as much as we can. And I think nice for everyone watching as well.”
Still, Piastri does understand the criticism of the strategy. Admitting that certain incidents still hurt, despite the extensive work from McLaren.
“I think it’s obviously difficult when you’re racing your teammate, and, obviously, things have happened this year. We’ve come together a couple of times,” he said.
Piastri reflects on painful moments in F1 2025
Piastri’s most painful moment came at Silverstone, where a likely victory slipped away after a time penalty for excessive braking behind the Safety Car.
Despite the team agreeing the call was harsh, no swap with Norris took place to reinstate his lost position. The Briton went on to claim another race win, with his teammate close behind.
“That one definitely hurt for a little bit,” he said.
“But I think, by the time we got to the next race, I had moved on from it. Obviously, when you look back at anything, there’s still going to be some residual emotion there, whether it happened 10 years ago or two weeks ago.”
The young driver acknowledged that while these moments may sting, a clear mindset is key in the high pressures of F1.
“I think it very much depends on how you deal with it,” he said
“…like Silverstone, for example, if I had just sat there going, ‘I think that was a crap decision. I don’t agree with it, that’s stupid, and just sat on that, then probably it would still hurt a lot to this day.
“But when you look back at it and go, ‘Yeah, okay, maybe still don’t agree with the decision’. But there’s this I could have done differently. There’s this that could have happened a bit differently.”
With only three races remaining and a 24-point gap to his teammate, Piastri isn’t dwelling on past mistakes, which could hamper his challenge.
Instead, he is approaching the final races with a clear goal: to be the 2025 F1 World Champion.
“I think generally, in the times when you sit on things and bottle it up, bottle it up to an extent, that’s when the emotions can be a bit overwhelming.”
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