Oscar Piastri has revealed that Lando Norris’ dwindling Formula 1 title hopes have seen McLaren revise its rules on team orders again from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
McLaren had made the call to prioritise Norris’ prospects ever since Piastri’s brash opening-lap pass at Monza contributed to the squad squandering a 1-2 on the grid.
Piastri complied with an instruction at the previous round in Brazil to relinquish the Sprint race win to his team-mate, while he also moved aside during the main event.
However, Norris’ plight to sixth place at a wet Interlagos has all but ended his championship hopes in 2024 as Max Verstappen triumphed from 17th place on the grid.
Verstappen’s mesmeric comeback has placed on the cusp of retaining his crown, with the Dutchman’s first chance to seal the deal arriving this weekend in Las Vegas.
The 62-point gap between the title protagonists has prompted McLaren to rethink its intra-team guidelines, with Piastri divulging he will be allowed to retain race wins.
But the Australian has warned that there will still be some unspecified circumstances in which he might be called upon to help Norris over the remaining three rounds.
Asked whether McLaren’s stance on team orders – dubbed ‘Papaya Rules’ – had reverted since Brazil, Piastri told media including Motorsport Week: “Pretty much, yes.”
“There’s still some, let’s say, very specific scenarios where I might be needed to help out. But for the very large majority of situations, it’s back to how it was.
“The drivers’ championship picture is very slim, and the Constructors’ Championship is certainly not over for us.
“It’s certainly not a done deal, so that’s definitely the biggest thing.
“So it’s a very specific few scenarios that maybe I’ll still help out if that’s what I’m asked to do, but I’m going into the weekend trying to win.”
Piastri eager to avoid team orders in 2025
Piastri expressed that he wasn’t downbeat about having to give up a Sprint win in Brazil to Norris, citing that pipping his team-mate to pole position usurped that loss.
The two-time F1 race winner, though, has acknowledged that he is eager to avoid being resigned to a similar situation in 2025 should McLaren be in contention again.
“To be honest, I wasn’t that disappointed with giving that up,” he said. “Of course, I would have loved to have won the sprint, but it’s a very different scenario to a grand prix.
“I think I proved what I wanted to prove in terms of qualifying on pole. And that was just to myself.
“Even if I had won the sprint, qualifying on pole was probably the more satisfying thing for me.
“I knew I did the right thing in the sprint, and that’s good for me. So yeah, I’m happy that we don’t have to go into those kinds of things as much anymore.
“And obviously next year, I want to make sure that I’m not in a position, championship-wise, to be subject to that.
“But in reality, I probably needed to help out that one time in Brazil and that’s been it. So it’s been a lot of talk, but not much on-track action.”
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