The Boomerang of the ‘Papaya Rules’
The ‘Papaya rules’ have backfired, at least from a media perspective. The rules of engagement on the track between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri that he had spoken about Andrea Star on Saturday’s qualifying at Monza, after its drivers had monopolized the entire front row, they actually crumbled a few meters after the start of the Italian GP. The mockery of their rivals was almost inevitable, with Christian Horner commenting at the end of the race: “I don’t know what these Papaya rules are, but I know they helped us out.”. Well, papaya rules or not, after ten days of reflection the McLaren team principal He arrives in Baku with the awareness that he must start giving orders to capitalise on the great speed potential of the MCL38 on Sundays too.
More support for Norris
“The ‘Papaya rules’ have to do with – Stella explained in an interview given to BBC Sports – with the obligation for our drivers to race without taking risks and with mutual respect, without contact between our two cars. It’s a quick way to remind the guys not to overdo it when they’re fighting against each other. Overall the idea is that we are incredibly determined to win, but we also want to do it the right way. From now on we will shift our support more towards Lando, but we want to do it without compromising our principles too much.. And our principles say that the interest of the team comes first. Sportsmanship is an important value for us and we want to make sure that we are fair to both our drivers.”.
McLaren, Monza a loss for the team
Fairness with the drivers, yes, but also a little more pragmatism after what we saw at the start of the Monza GP, with Piastri’s overtaking at the Roggia variant which also made Norris lose second place, favoring Leclerc’s race: “We no longer want to see situations where we arrive at the corner in first and second position and exit first and third.It was a damage for the team and we have to resolve situations like that because it was the way we approached the match that left the door open for something like that to happen.”.
“After Monza we set ourselves three objectives. First, we have to make sure that nothing that happens on the track between the drivers causes damage to the team, then as a second point we have to have both committed to help win both championships. And finally, what we do not want is to win irresponsibly. We go to Baku following these three principles, We’ll see if after the GP it will be the case to change the approach further”.
#Stella #McLaren #team #orders #support #Norris #Monza
