McLaren introduced the “Papaya Rules” during the 2024 Italian GP. When McLaren told Lando Norris he was free to fight Oscar Piastri as long as these rules were followed, many were left puzzled. It wasn’t until Zak Brown stepped in to explain that it simply meant they could race each other without causing any damage that things became clear.

As per former F1 driver Christijan Albers, however, it was a marketing stunt. He bashed Brown for publicizing it, and insisted that it didn’t make any sense.

“Surely then you are only concerned with marketing,” he said to De Telegraaf. “Then again it should all sound sexy, but it’s just about team orders and that you have to let each other live as teammates.”

Albers believed McLaren should have maintained the order as it was after the first corner at Monza. Norris, who started in P1, was leading ahead of Piastri, but the Aussie made a bold and brilliant, yet risky, overtake on him—something Albers felt was avoidable.

At the same time, he understands Piastri’s situation. He knows that the Australian driver would not want to be a second-choice driver at McLaren. Plus, his manager Mark Webber would be livid.

After the Italian GP, McLaren recognized their mistake. Publicly encouraging their drivers to battle on track under the guise of ‘following rules‘ did not reflect well on the team and also hurt Norris’ chances of competing in the Drivers’ Championship.

Ahead of the Azerbaijan GP, Team Principal Andrea Stella emphasized that Piastri would now assist Norris in every way possible to support his bid to dethrone three-time world champion Max Verstappen by the end of the season. With eight races remaining, Norris trails by 62 points.