As Formula One makes its way back to America for the US Grand Prix, conversations remain fixed on McLaren and the changing dynamic between their two drivers.
Though Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have handled their championship fight quite civilly so far, last weekend out in Singapore provided a moment of tension between the two. At the start of the Grand Prix, Norris made contact with his teammate, forcing his way ahead and holding the position for the remainder of the race. While the stewards ruled the move fair, Piastri’s frustration was clear over team radio, deeming the clash “unfair.”
The incident only added fuel to the ongoing debate surrounding McLaren’s “papaya rules”—an elusive, confusing and seemingly loosely defined set of rules that are meant to govern how the team’s drivers race one another. With both Norris and Piastri confirming on Thursday that there would be “repercussions” for the British driver, speculation quickly grew over what McLaren’s response might look like.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown moved to clarify the situation, emphasising that while the team addressed the issue internally, it was far from a major disciplinary matter:
“I think our drivers are both very honest with us, themselves, they know the kind of rules of the road [which is] something that we laid out at the beginning of the year and that’s what the drivers signed up to.
“Singapore was a very small incident. It was not intentional. The start of a Grand Prix is a bit crazy out there and track conditions weren’t great.”
Brown then confirmed that the so-called “repercussions” Norris would receive are “a very small sporting situation to just kind of balance things out,” and added that “it’s nothing that is draconian.”
Finally, Brown insists that both drivers are still very much allowed to fight for their own championship: “They’re free to race, they’ve been free to race all year, we just want to tidy things up a little bit.”
Though Brown’s words offer some form of clarification, eyes will remain peeled on what these repercussions may be as the rest of the weekend in Austin unfolds.