Verstappen mocks McLaren: 'Papaya rules? I’d never need them’

Max Verstappen has thrown a cheeky wrench into McLaren's carefully curated drama between its drivers, insisting that if he were driving for the championship-winning outfit, the team’s so-called “papaya rules” wouldn’t even come into play.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s US Grand Prix, Verstappen couldn't resist mocking McLaren’s infamous guidelines that are meant to keep drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from clashing – and especially crashing – with each other.

And yet, that is exactly what occurred in Singapore two weeks ago, when a bold move by Norris on the opening lap of the race nearly wreaked ended in tears for the Briton and Piastri.

The team held what it called “good talks” in the aftermath of the incident, ultimately holding Norris responsible for almost jeopardizing his and his teammate’s race.

Max's No-Holds-Barred Take: Why Bother with the Rules?

Verstappen, ever the straight shooter with a smirk, laid into the team's equal-opportunity obsession.

"If you leave the door slightly open like Oscar did in Singapore, then you might end up in a situation like that," he quipped. "But on the other hand, they kind of created this themselves by trying so hard to make everything equal with certain actions."

He dismissed the idea of pit-wall puppet masters trying to enforce fairness in a title scrap as laughably futile.

"You know, a championship is never 100 percent fair when it comes to certain moments. Sometimes you get a bad pit stop, sometimes an engine breaks. You can’t really balance that out, I think.

“They see it differently at McLaren, but this is my opinion. It’s very difficult – and that’s what sometimes leads to frustration."

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• Piastri: McLaren showing ‘no favouritism’ in title fight with Norris

Prodded on whether he'd ever stomach such meddling, Verstappen let out a laugh that echoed through the paddock.

"No, but then we probably wouldn’t be that close in points anyway," he fired back, slyly suggesting his dominance would leave the second driver eating dust, rendering the rules redundant.

"Then, automatically, it wouldn’t be an issue. You just have to try and make sure you don’t end up in a situation like that."

Sainz Fires Back: Domination Demands Discipline

Not everyone was buying Verstappen's bravado. Carlos Sainz, who endured the McLaren teammate wars with Norris back in 2019-2020, offered a reality check to Formula 1's official channel.

For the Williams charger, the "papaya rules" aren't some overblown farce; they're survival tactics when a third wheel like Verstappen looms large.

"It depends on the domination of the team," he explained. "I think the Mercedes years were a perfect example of them being so dominant that they could afford to fight each other a bit more."

He argued that with the title dangling, teams must play it safe.

"I think whenever the championship can go away to a different team, a different driver, you need to respect that and be a bit more careful,” he said. “Even if the teams don’t say that, the drivers’ championship is something that a team wants.

"It doesn’t matter who the other driver is. If a championship can go for the team and the driver, and you have two drivers fighting for it, and there’s one guy that can take it [away], it does matter if it’s Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen or Charles Leclerc, you want the championship for your two drivers, so you want to keep them relatively under control."

So while McLaren tries to maintain harmony under papaya-coloured caution tape, Verstappen remains unimpressed from afar – and more than happy to remind everyone that in his team, rules of engagement usually start and end with “don’t be slow.”

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