If you thought you’d never have to hear the term “Papaya Rules” again now that McLaren is no longer F1’s dominant team, a new flashpoint over the 2026 Singapore Grand Prix weekend provided McLaren with a most unwanted flashback to 2025.
Exactly one year ago, Norris barged Piastri out of the way at the start of the 2025 edition, not causing either car any damage but – as the two drivers were fighting for the championship – landing Norris in hot water with the team. It was the second such incident following the Briton running into the back of Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix, with McLaren briefly imposing undefined ‘repercussions’ on its driver. Those only lasted half a race weekend, until Piastri took out Norris at the start of the Austin sprint and the team wiped the slate clean.
Saturday’s clumsy collision at the end of the 20-lap Singapore sprint felt like a throwback, even if it took place in vastly different conditions. McLaren has since been usurped by Mercedes as the dominant force, and Piastri and Norris diced over a mere fourth place in a sprint race, tantamount to one point.
But perhaps exactly because it was a meaningless battle, with McLaren scoring the same number of points regardless, Norris’ ill-fated lunge caused team principal Andrea Stella so much grief. This one was very avoidable yet cost McLaren constructors’ points in its tight battle with a resurgent Red Bull over third, as well as an even bigger workload for the mechanics on a sprint weekend and cost cap budget to repair the damage and replace Piastri’s gearbox.
Straight after the incident, Stella was visibly upset, declaring the latest papaya-on-papaya contact “unacceptable”. Following an initial round of private talks the Italian was more philosophical as he was quizzed by the written media, though his message didn’t mellow as much as his tone did.
“It is serious because the damage for the team is material. We are in a close fight in the championship. We had the ambition to challenge Ferrari and we have an ambition to finish ahead of Red Bull, and this is a problem to finish ahead,” Stella summed up the cost.
Stella will have also hoped that after the series of exhaustive – and at times exhausting – talks over the course of 2025, and some robust but respectful racing between his two aces ever since, he didn’t need to have this conversation all over again.
Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
“It is also serious because we come from a few seasons in which we have reflected together, team and drivers, as to how we approach racing together and how we make sure that the interest of the team is protected,” he added.
So, why has it happened again, then, and did it come as a surprise? “That’s an interesting question,” Stella mused. “Surprised? I’ve worked with top drivers for so many seasons that I know that with drivers there’s always a degree of unpredictability. I’m not necessarily surprised. I know that these things can happen.
“I am, if anything, disappointed. Disappointed as a team principal for a situation that is absolutely not acceptable because it caused material damage to the team and every member of the team knows that the team interest comes before any personal interest, but above all is the main beacon that guides our action and our instinct. As a team we need to reflect as to how we make sure that these situations do not happen anymore.”
One source of dissonance is that while Norris apologised and was “told off” by the team, he still insisted after qualifying that both he and Piastri could have done more to avoid the clash. Norris was backed up in that view by the stewards who took no further action, not unlike the unpunished clash between Racing Bulls stablemates Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson in Azerbaijan. Perhaps the message has not fully landed, one reporter wondered.
“We had part of the conversations straight after the sprint, but obviously, because we are within a race weekend, what you want to do is to make sure that team and drivers are in the best and most functional condition to keep delivering during the weekend,” Stella said, hinting that Norris would come to the right conclusion when there’s more time to digest it.
“We will have time to go through the various conversations after the race weekend and before the race, but I trust, because I know both drivers enough, that they will keep reflecting on the episode and I trust and I’m pretty sure that they will extract the key learning without me having to say very much.”
But by the same token, McLaren is also keen not to dwell on who or isn’t to blame. What’s more productive is to use the Singapore episode as an opportunity to learn. An unwelcome but nevertheless timely reminder of what the standard is.
“You know, the aspect of apologies, fault, one driver is predominantly [at fault]…Honestly, that’s not the perspective I have and that’s not the perspective I want from the drivers,” Stella concluded.
“The reflection is [about] how, together, we are going to pursue, protect, promote the interests of the team. This is the assignment. I’m not looking for any apologies. I know the drivers; they are two excellent human beings.
“This is business and as a business I want to know: ‘How do we work together to make sure that this does not happen anymore?’
“We approach it with a very constructive mindset because there’s only one outcome. That the team will be more united and the team will be stronger in the way we pursue our quest, which is the drivers and the team’s quest together.”
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