Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya says that Oscar Piastri “took advantage of the papaya rules” during his overtake on Lando Norris at the Italian Grand Prix.
Montoya claims that Piastri, who attacked Lando Norris for the lead at Monza, benefited from McLaren’s “papaya rules” because he knew his teammate couldn’t risk a crash. Speaking ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, where McLaren was among the frontrunners, team principal Andrea Stella reminded the drivers of the team’s “papaya rules.”
Simply put, “Don’t race your teammate as aggressively as you would a rival driver, and instead race in synergy.”
The McLaren duo had a clean start off the line, with Norris leading into the first chicane from pole, but Piastri launched an unexpected attack into the second chicane. Piastri passed on the outside of the Della Roggia chicane, and Norris later claimed that if he had braked just a meter later, the two would have collided.
Former F1 driver Montoya believes that Piastri not only took advantage of McLaren’s rules but also exploited his teammate’s position in the Drivers’ Championship. Speaking on his Montoy’AS podcast, Montoya said, “Piastri took advantage of what they call ‘papaya rules’ because he knew Lando couldn’t fight him and that Lando, fighting for the championship, was too vulnerable to risk a crash.”
Piastri and Norris finished the race in second and third, respectively. Ferrari tried a one-stop strategy to give Charles Leclerc track position in the final stages, which paid off, securing Leclerc his second victory of the season. Championship leader Max Verstappen did not enter the race and finished in sixth place.
Montoya added, “It was a weekend full of surprises, showing what could happen this year.”
“Red Bull clearly had issues. What was interesting were Checo’s comments about Verstappen also having problems with the car,” he said.
Montoya believes Red Bull’s struggles could continue into the upcoming double-header in Azerbaijan and Singapore, saying that “life could get harder” for them and that “anything could happen.”
Verstappen will line up on the Baku grid 62 points ahead of Norris in the Drivers’ Championship, but with McLaren only eight points behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ race, the battle is much closer.
