McLaren seeking 'simpler' papaya rules approach with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has confirmed to holding ongoing "conversations" with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to ensure racing this season is "simpler".

McLaren's implementation of its 'papaya rules' - the way it wants to go racing with its drivers - has naturally been tested at times over the last two years, leading to a degree of frustration.

That was certainly evident on Piastri's side of the garage last year as the Australian went toe-to-toe with Norris in pursuit of the F1 drivers' title.

Piastri felt there were occasions when Norris was being favoured, such as in Italy and Singapore, in particular, when calls were made that were detrimental to his cause.

Following Norris' eventual championship triumph, Stella confirmed that a review would be undertaken of the season.

Addressing invited media, including RacingNews365, for a technical assessment of McLaren's progress on its MCL40, asked what discussions took place during the off-season and the drivers' reaction, Stella was clear.

"I can certainly say that, like anything that we approach at McLaren, we go through a thorough process of review, such that we can see where there are opportunities to improve," he said.

"This was the same for what we call the racing principles and the way we go racing and internal competition. We got quite a lot of feedback during the season last year.

"We had conversations after the season, and we are having conversations pretty much as we speak now.

"All of this has led us to reaffirm, fundamentally, that the concepts of fairness, integrity, equal opportunities, sportsmanship, they are all fundamental for the team, for Lando and for Oscar.

"So they are reaffirmed, they are confirmed and consolidated, if anything."

As to the plans in place for this season, Stella acknowledges tweaks will be made.

He added: "At the same time, we all acknowledge that the volume of work required for this, for the team, and to some extent, even for the drivers related to internal competition, was important.

"Therefore, any attempt we can make to make going racing together just simpler, to some extent, will be welcome.

"It will be, in reality, a matter of fine-tuning, because once we reviewed what we had done, in most of the cases we said that's exactly what we would still do again.

"But we have found a few opportunities in which we can streamline the way in which we operate collectively, like I said, reaffirming the fundamental principles that we have adopted in the past."