McLaren’s Stella says ‘papaya rules' are here to stay

McLaren are not backing down – and Andrea Stella is more than happy to say it loudly. Despite the noise, the criticism and the endless debate that swirled around Woking last season, the team principal has confirmed that the much-discussed “papaya rules” are here to stay.

Equal opportunity, internal freedom and fairness between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will once again define McLaren’s approach as Formula 1 heads into 2026.

The philosophy, which drew both praise and frustration during last year’s campaign, occasionally left pundits questioning whether McLaren’s refusal to impose strict team orders cost them strategically.

But Stella insists that the team’s success wasn’t just about results — it was about how those results were achieved.

‘We will keep racing the McLaren way’

Reflecting ahead of the MCL40’s first on-track outing at the Barcelona shakedown, Stella made it clear that continuity – not reaction – will guide McLaren forward.

“We talked last year quite a bit about internal racing at McLaren, so let me say that from that point of view, we will enter 2026 with continuity.

“We will keep racing the McLaren way. If we have been able to achieve success in 2024 and then in 2025, what has added extra value to what we have achieved is the way in which we have achieved in such a collaborative, supportive way – [a] cohesive way – together with our drivers.”

Stella also revealed just how closely aligned Norris and Piastri remain with the philosophy, highlighting their buy-in as the real backbone of McLaren’s stance.

“I actually [came here] straight from a meeting with Oscar, and before I was having lunch with Lando. The 2026 season is already fully on, even in terms of how much the drivers are engaged, and I was particularly pleased to see how energetic, proactive, full of ideas, but also full of support to the way we have gone racing the McLaren way in the past.

“So that's the perspective of going into 2026 racing from a team point of view.”

Fine-Tuning, Not Backing Off

That doesn’t mean McLaren believes everything was perfect. Stella acknowledged that last season’s approach came with a heavy operational workload – for engineers, strategists and even the drivers themselves – and that lessons have been learned.

“I can certainly say that like anything that we approach at McLaren, we go through a thorough process of review such that we can see where are the opportunities to improve, and this was the same for what we call the racing principles and the way we go racing and internal competition,” the Italian said.

“We got quite a lot of feedback already during the season last year. We had conversations after the season and we are having conversations pretty much as we speak now.”

Yet the core principles remain non-negotiable.

“All this has led us to reaffirm fundamentally, like I said before, that the concepts of fairness, integrity, equal opportunities, sportsmanship, they are all fundamental for the team, for Lando and for Oscar,” Stella added.

“So they are reaffirmed, they are confirmed and consolidated, if anything.”

• Read also: McLaren to skip opening day of testing in Barcelona

The goal now is refinement rather than revolution.

“At the same time, we all acknowledge that the volume of work required, for instance, for the team and to some extent even for the drivers related to internal competition was important.

“Therefore, any attempt we can make to make this going racing together just simpler to some extent will be welcome. It will be in reality a matter of finetuning because, once we reviewed what we have done, in most of the cases we said that's exactly what we would still do again.

“But we found a few opportunities in which we can streamline the way in which we operate collectively – like I said, reaffirming the fundamental principles that we have adopted in the past.”

In short, McLaren aren’t tearing up the papaya rulebook – they’re sharpening it. And as 2026 looms, the message is unmistakable: Norris and Piastri will race hard, race fair, and race free – even if the rest of the paddock can’t stop arguing about it.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook