After missing out on the world championship, Oscar Piastri admitted McLaren\u2019s style of racing throughout the F1 2025 season made for some uncomfortable moments.<\/p>\n
Piastri led the points standings by 34 points after 15 of 24 events, but ended the year third, 13 points behind teammate Lando Norris and 11 back from Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri offers his opinion on \u2018papaya rules\u2019 after title loss<\/p>\n
Following the Dutch Grand Prix, Piastri was the odds-on favourite for the title.<\/p>\n
He held a comfortable margin over Norris, his only real challenger, who\u2019d been forced out in Zandvoort with an oil line issue.<\/p>\n
But with McLaren standing steadfast to its commitment to equality of opportunity for its drivers, it didn\u2019t double down on the Australian\u2019s advantage.<\/p>\n
At the very next race, he was asked to move aside after a slow stop hampered Norris\u2019 progress in an Italian Grand Prix won by Verstappen.<\/p>\n
It was arguably the most overt use of team orders all season, from a team that had insisted that it wouldn\u2019t employ the tactic. Indeed, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown told PlanetF1.com in May that he was prepared to lose the world championship if it meant he didn\u2019t have to quash the chances of one of his drivers.<\/p>\n
For the most part, the team\u2019s actions were consistent with that messaging.<\/p>\n
In Australia, there was a brief neutralisation as the weather closed in and Norris and Piastri, running at the head of the race, closed in on backmarkers.<\/p>\n
In Japan, Piastri was not waved by his teammate into second and granted the opportunity to attack Verstappen \u2013 if he was genuinely faster, he can do it on track, else the exact order of the cars doesn\u2019t actually make much difference in the team\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n
More on McLaren equality<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udc49 McLaren boss Zak Brown underscores driver equality in title charge<\/a> And even in Britain, when Piastri was slapped with a harsh penalty for a Safety Car infringement, McLaren refused to penalise the other car in order to address the situation, leaving Norris to win his home grand prix.<\/p>\n Then, in Monza, the team issued an instruction that intentionally penalised its driver \u2013 albeit to return the status quo prior to an unusually slow pit stop.<\/p>\n Thereafter, Piastri fell into a slump and his advantage was eroded by an in-form Norris and the relentless Verstappen.<\/p>\n Crashes in Baku, an incident in Austin, a tough weekend in Mexico, and another crash in Brazil all conspired to hurt Piastri\u2019s points tally before a strategic blunder in Qatar arguably cost him victory.<\/p>\n Through it all, despite claims of conspiracy and sabotage against Piastri, the squad maintained a united front, committed to its chosen path.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a testament to the way we go racing,\u201d Piastri insisted in the wake of his world championship defeat.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, it\u2019s not easy fighting for both the Constructors\u2019 Championship and the Drivers\u2019 Championship with two very evenly matched drivers, but ultimately, that\u2019s a problem we knew we were going to have.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaren dominated the opening half of the season, and locked the Constructors\u2019 Championship away at the Singapore Grand Prix.<\/p>\n However, by refusing to prioritise one of its drivers, it found itself exposed to the resurgent Verstappen as Red Bull found a way to unlock the inherent pace within its RB22.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an approach that nearly cost both Piastri and Norris the championship, the Dutchman falling just two points shy of a fifth consecutive title.<\/p>\n Even still, support remains strong for the way in which McLaren elected to approach racing in F1 2025 \u2013 and appears set to continue next season.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, I think there\u2019s a lot of good things that come from that,\u201d Piastri said.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, there\u2019s difficult moments and tension at times, but I think both Lando and I have become better drivers from pushing each other to the limit.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes that\u2019s been uncomfortable for everyone, but ultimately it\u2019s been a good thing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of discussions through the year, and I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll have discussions in the off-season about anything we want to do slightly differently for next year.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, they gave us both as good a chance as the team could have to fairly fight for a world championship. That\u2019s all you can ask for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udc49 Why McLaren\u2019s \u2018papaya rules\u2019 don\u2019t mean equality for Norris and Piastri<\/a><\/p>\n