Piastri vs Norris: Is it gloves off post-Singapore?
- Maham Mir
- 8 hours ago
- 5 min read
Written by Maham Mir, Edited by Meghana Sree
Under the lights in Singapore, McLaren sealed the 2025 World Constructors’ Championship and took their overall title tally as a team to 10.
However, this isn’t what dominated the headlines and instead, a Lap 1 incident between teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris caught everyone’s attention.
On the opening lap of the race, Norris, who started P5, made a move on teammate Piastri ahead in P3. Onboard footage of the incident gives us the complete picture.
Side by side with Max Verstappen, Norris briefly made contact with the reigning world champion which subsequently caused the wheel of his McLaren to touch the wheel of the current championship leader’s car.
Through onboard footage, we are able to see the gap that Norris was aiming to go for between Verstappen and Piastri.
After that initial contact between Norris and Verstappen, the McLaren driver carried too much speed into Turn 3 which caused him to make contact with his teammate.
Although Norris carried damage to his front-wing for the entirety of the race because of the contact with Verstappen, Piastri managed to escape unscathed. Despite this, Piastri was quick on the radio to his race engineer to express his frustration.
The incident between the teammates was noted and consequently referred to the stewards alongside a handful of other incidents from the opening lap.
Ultimately, all the incidents referred to them were deemed Lap 1 incidents characteristic of Singapore and therefore required no further investigation.
Although the incident itself was dealt with during the race, its implications has everyone questioning whether this is the end of the infamous ‘papaya rules’ between the McLaren teammates as they battle it out for the World Drivers’ Championship. But what exactly are these papaya rules?
To understand the rules laid out by the team for how they expect their drivers to go racing, we have to return to Monza 2024 where the teammates jostled for position and ultimately lost out to Charles Leclerc.
Since then, the number one aim for papaya rules is to keep it clean between the teammates and not cause damage. Despite this, there have been incidents of contact between the teammates.
Earlier this season, the Canadian Grand Prix saw Norris attempt to make a move on Piastri which ultimately saw him hit the back of his teammate’s car and retire from the race due to extensive damage. Norris apologised to his teammate and team for going against the guidelines laid out by papaya rules.
Additionally, the Hungarian Grand Prix saw Piastri almost take out both McLaren cars after attempting a move on his teammate to take the lead of the race. Facing a lockup when trying a move, Piastri’s move on his teammate came after their different strategies saw Norris take the win and reduce Piastri’s lead to nine points.
With all the controversy that has been brought forward by the team’s commitment to papaya rules, there have been multiple questions raised about the nature of papaya rules and whether they should have existed at all. One huge point made in objection to these rules is the sentiment that they have hampered racing between the two championship contenders.
Looking back at Austria 2025 where both McLarens battled it out for the lead with Norris ultimately emerging victorious, it has to be said that both drivers have proven that they are capable of battling cleanly on track.
Papaya rules therefore, although determining how they should race, has not stopped them from racing each other altogether.
With the WCC concluded, and the team incentive to protect both cars lessened, the question on everyone’s mind is whether or not the gloves will be off now between the pair for the remainder of the season.
Having proven on multiple occasions that they are no strangers to racing each other, championship battle or not, both drivers will be looking to swing the points tally in their favour in the final few races.
In the case of papaya rules, one of the biggest court rooms where the situation was judged is the public forum of social media.
Fans of Piastri and Norris alike have taken to these platforms to express how they feel their chosen driver has been disadvantaged by papaya rules.
Like with the incidents that occurred before, the public reaction to Singapore 2025 showed outrage from both sets of fans about perceived favouritism among other issues.
The public forum has also seen debates about whether or not Piastri’s frustration on his radio immediately after the incident was justified. In many cases, the consensus has been that Piastri’s frustration is a direct consequence of the situation created by McLaren and their papaya rules.
Outrage from fans, however, raises the question of whether such rules or guidelines should have existed in the first place. For the team to get involved and create boundaries in how their drivers interact with each other on the track is, to some, a violation of McLaren’s commitment to having two number one drivers.
Beyond describing how the drivers should be racing against each other, the team have also utilised strategies as another battleground to maintain fairness between the drivers.
Most egregiously, the 2025 Italian Grand Prix in Monza had an unusual call from McLaren’s pitwall to Piastri to swap cars after a slow stop for Norris saw him emerge behind his teammate upon leaving the pitlane.
This set a precarious precedent at McLaren, and it was ultimately this context along with the foundational papaya rules – not crashing into one’s teammate – that prompted Piastri’s frustrations with the team at the Singapore Grand Prix following Norris’ move.
Looking at the team’s history, McLaren is no stranger to an internal battle between teammates. The last time the constructor was able to defend their title and achieve multiple consecutive WCC titles was during the 1988 to 1991 period when legendary drivers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost drove for the team.
While there aren’t many comparisons to be made between the driving styles or skills of the former McLaren pairing and the current drivers employed by Zak Brown and Andrea Stella, the management of the drivers in both situations is crucial.
For the McLaren of the present, it does not seem as though they will have to worry about such an immediate breakdown in the working relationship between their drivers just yet. Speaking about the Singapore 2025 incident, Norris stated: “The last thing I want to do is make contact.”
From a team management perspective, the decision to abandon papaya rules has not yet been discussed or advertised. In an interview conducted by Jenson Button post-race in Singapore, Brown stated about the incident that it was “just hard racing”.
Both Brown and Stella have repeatedly emphasised team spirit over the course of the season.
How McLaren chooses to handle this situation going forward remains to be seen although the choice seems to be clear: let the championship leaders race.
The only thing that can be guaranteed in this title fight is that both Piastri and Norris will fight until the very final lap in Abu Dhabi until one of them is crowned, with no chances of it being settled any earlier between the teammates.
