McLaren no longer will have its drivers adhere to a pecking order as the Las Vegas Grand Prix approaches Saturday.
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri said he does not have to operate in a support role for teammate Lando Norris, now that Norris’ hopes of a driver’s championship are in long-shot mode.
“Pretty much, yes,” Piastri said this week when asked if team strategy has changed.
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings with 393 points, while Norris is second with 331, followed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (307) and Piastri (262).
Dubbed the “papaya rules,” Piastri was required to make sure Norris could secure as many points as possible to keep the pressure on Verstappen. That meant Piastri was forced to back off a sprint race at Brazil on Nov. 3, to let Norris pass for overall points considerations.
Norris ended up finishing in sixth place to earn eight points, while Verstappen went on to win and earn 26 points. Piastri finished eighth and earned four points.
Piastri’s “pretty much,” comment suggests that he is not quite free to operate as he pleases in all circumstances.
“There’s still some, let’s say, very specific scenarios where I might be needed to help out,” Piastri said. “But for the very large majority of situations, it’s back to how it was.”
While Verstappen has a solid grip on the drivers’ championship, McLaren still has its sights on the constructors’ championship. McLaren heads to Las Vegas in the lead of the constructors’ standings with 593 points, ahead of Ferrari (557) and Red Bull (544).
To his credit, Piastri has not objected to operating in a support role for his teammate. His goal is to be the one who is getting all the help in 2025.
“Obviously next year, I want to make sure that I’m not in a position, championship-wise, to be subject to that,” he said. “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.”
