Oscar Piastri has confirmed McLaren will revert back to papaya rules for the remainder of the F1 season, except for "very specific scenarios". At 62-points with three rounds to go, Lando Norris' drivers' championship battle with Max Verstappen is essentially over, reducing the need for the Australian to play second fiddle at the Woking team. That means papaya rules , which is a rules of engagement framework for the McLaren drivers, will again take precedence. The system was devised to ensure clean, team-orientated racing between Norris and Piastri and was well-covered over the Italian Grand Prix, when their first-lap fight arguably cost them a one-two finish, before being put aside as the drivers' championship battle tightened. In the previous round, in Brazil, Piastri was ordered to relinquish sprint victory, handing the win - and additional point - to his team-mate. However, following Verstappen's sensational victory in the grand prix at Interlagos, parity has largely been restored at McLaren. When asked by media including RacingNews365 if he would now be returned to an equal footing with Norris, Piastri replied: "Pretty much, yes. There's still some very specific scenarios where I might be needed to help out, but for the very large majority of situations, it's back to how it was. "The drivers' championship picture is very slim, and the constructors' championship is certainly not over for us. It's certainly not a done deal, so that's definitely the biggest thing. "It's a very specific few scenarios that maybe I'll still help out, if that's what I'm asked to do, but I'm going into the weekend trying to win." When presented with a follow-up question on whether things would be different to how they were at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Piastri said: "Yes, definitely."
'A lot of talk for not much on-track action'
The decision for Piastri to let Norris past during the sprint in Brazil was the only significant use of team orders over the five-round stint they were in place for. The 23-year-old expressed his happiness at being able to return to McLaren's preferred 'two number one drivers' approach, but did admit he was not too bothered by his sacrifice in Sao Paulo. "To be honest, I wasn't that disappointed with giving that up," he explained. "Of course I would have loved to have won the sprint, but a [it is] very different scenario to a grand prix. "I proved what I wanted to prove, in terms of qualifying on pole, and that was just to myself. "Qualifying on pole for the sprint, even if I had won the sprint, qualifying on pole was probably the more satisfying thing for me. "I knew I did the right things in the sprint, and that's good for me. "I'm happy that we don't have to go into those kind of things as much anymore, and obviously next year, I want to make sure that I'm not in a position, championship wise, to be subject to that. "But in reality, I probably needed to help out at that one time in Brazil and that's been it. So it's been a lot of talk for not much on-track action."
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