Oscar Piastri reveals McLaren’s stance on ‘Papaya rules’ after Lando Norris clash

Oscar Piastri has confirmed that he and Lando Norris are still “free to race” despite clashing at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Norris ran into the back of Piastri as they battled for fourth place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last time out.

The incident put Norris out of the race, while Piastri came away from it unscathed, finishing fourth to extend his championship lead to 22 points.

The tension didn’t escalate within McLaren as Norris immediately took the blame for the incident, apologising to Piastri in the TV pen.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, Piastri said that he and Norris will continue to be allowed to race each other.

“It was fine. Half of it was on the way to the stewards’ room so that was fun,” Piastri explained in the FIA press conference in Austria, where Crash.net are present in the paddock. 

“All good. We spoke about it honestly before we even got back to the team. Lando put his hands up and apologised. All good and looking forward to going racing again.”

When asked about McLaren’s ‘Papaya rules’, Piastri replied: “No. Same as always. Obviously, what happened in Canada wasn’t ideal but we’re still free to race. We’re still fighting for a championship each.

“Keep going racing and make sure that we obviously don’t come into contact again.”

Piastri: “Unity” key to McLaren’s success

Piastri’s manager, Mark Webber, was involved in a title battle against teammate Sebastian Vettel in 2010.

Vettel ultimately came out on top, with a number of flashpoints in the season, which included an on-track clash in Turkey.

Webber was also frustrated by Red Bull’s decision to give Vettel an upgraded front wing for the British Grand Prix - despite the German damaging his own one in practice.

Piastri was keen not to draw parallels with Webber and Vettel, stating that he and Norris are very different characters and that the incident in Canada wasn’t that consequential.

“I think just the situation is very different. I think Lando and I are very different people to Mark and Seb,” Piastri added.

“I think the situation within the team, in their careers, is also different. I think also the incident in Canada didn’t warrant any big discussions or big decisions. I think it was a misjudgement from Lando that he admitted to and apologised for immediately.

“I don’t think it needed anything else. We knew going into this year it was probably going to be a close fight between Lando and I with a championship at stake. It’s no surprise to anyone we’re in this scenario now. I think ultimately trying to make ourselves as fast as possible, doing the right things, that’s all you can do.

“I’ve said it multiple times before but Lando and I don’t just want one opportunity to win a championship. We want this to go on for as long as we’re in Formula 1. I think the headline a few weeks ago was that it’s not wise to fight for a championship or win a championship and bring the house down with it.

“I think that’s still at the forefront of our minds, and we want this success for years to come. Having the team united is a very simple way of doing that.”