McLaren says that it will review Oscar Piastri’s daring first-lap pass on teammate Lando Norris on the opening lap of the Italian Grand Prix.
The team feels the need to determine whether the move was in line with its 'Papaya Rules', the rules of engagement that govern how its drivers are expected to race one another on the track.
Piastri’s ‘elbows out’ bold overtake on the outside of Norris at Monza’s Turn 3 Variante della Roggia chicane stunned the Briton and compromised his momentum, allowing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to seize second place from the McLaren charger and alter the team’s race dynamics.
While the maneuver – daring but clean – showcased Piastri’s determination, it drew a lot of post-race attention from pundits who were eager to question McLaren team principal Andrea Stella on whether the Aussie’s move was reasonable or not.
"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,” commented Stella.
"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 acknowledged that McLaren's recent performance surge, combined with Red Bull’s unexpected struggles, has significantly shifted the landscape of the championship battle, which only underscores the importance of maximizing every points-scoring opportunity and ensuring both drivers are aligned with the team’s objectives.
"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."
The incident wasn’t the only point of contention for McLaren at Monza. The team’s strategy decision, particularly the choice to switch Piastri to a two-stop strategy while leading, also played a pivotal role in the outcome.
Leclerc, who opted for a one-stop strategy, managed to clinch victory, leaving McLaren to question whether they could have secured the win with a different approach.
"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.”
©McLaren
Stella noted that Norris's earlier lock-up and concerns about graining influenced their strategy to pit Piastri for a second set of tyres.
"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 a 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."
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