McLaren wants to review Oscar Piastri’s first-lap pass on Lando Norris in Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix before deciding if it complied with its ‘Papaya Rules’ code of conduct.
While Norris made a great getaway from pole position, his race turned at the second chicane when Piastri made an aggressive move around the outside – costing his team-mate momentum, which Ferrari's Charles Leclerc capitalised on to move up to second.
With McLaren fighting for the world championship, and a great deal of focus on the squad maximising the chances it has against Red Bull, the way the team lost a 1-2 track position has prompted some to suggest the situation should have been handled better.
And the way things played out, with Leclerc being given a free pass, could even have gone against McLaren's ‘Papaya Rules’ code of conduct that both drivers are adhering to when it comes to fighting each other.
Speaking after seeing Leclerc go on to win at Monza after mastering a one-stop strategy, McLaren boss Andrea Stella said that team management and both drivers had to go through events on the first lap – especially with both titles now looking in reach.
Asked if Piastri’s move was within the ‘Papaya Rules’, Stella said: “We will have to review together with the drivers, look at the videos, understand their point of view, and then we will assess together whether they were fully compliant or not.
“We will take the learning, if there is any learning that we need to take, and then we will adjust the Papaya Rules such that they allow us to pursue in the best possible manner both the constructors' championship and the drivers' championship.”
Stella feels that the performance that his team is showing now, allied to Red Bull’s struggles, has changed the dynamic of the championship battles – which makes ensuring that its drivers capitalise on every points-scoring opportunity a priority.
“We have to be now in condition to acknowledge that not only the constructor championship is possible,” he said.
“Even from a driver's point of view, with the performance we have at the moment in the car, and some of the struggles that we see with Red Bull, it is definitely possible.
“So if we can achieve both as a team, we need to put the team in condition and Lando in condition to pursue both championships.”
Monza win possible
McLaren lost victory in the Italian GP thanks to Leclerc executing a well-judged one-stop strategy, after Piastri pitted from the lead for a second change of tyres.
Stella says that McLaren abandoned the one-stop idea because it was nervous about the front graining it was suffering from triggering a massive drop off in performance.
“I think our car traditionally tends to be very good on the rear tyres but, when we deal with front graining, we tend to be on the aggressive side,” he said.
“This made us a bit nervous - especially after Lando had a lock-up on the front left a couple of laps before. For us, normally, this would have been the symptom the tyres were starting to struggle.
“In hindsight, I think there wasn't enough degradation for Leclerc to actually go and beat him on a two-stop, because we missed it by a couple of laps, but couple of laps is a lot.
“So it remains a question mark whether we could have won the race or not. But it looks like there was potentially more in the tyres than what we might have anticipated.
“Obviously, everyone entered the race with doubts, because nobody ran hard tyres [in practice], and when you are P3 it's easier to say, let me try the one-stop, than when you have the lead. If it doesn't work, it's going to be a misery at the end of the race.”
