Charles Leclerc secured Ferrari an emotional home win at the Italian GP. Despite their clear step forward on Sunday, their win was heavily conditioned by another unnecessary McLaren fight between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Ferrari lured McLaren into their trap for victory at Monza. The Italian team took advantage of McLaren’s lack of resoluteness with its two drivers to claim their most important win of the year, which also put them back in the fight for the Constructors’ Championship against Red Bull and McLaren.
Italian GP data: How ‘papaya rules’ hurt Lando Norris
Lando Norris initially defended the pole position achieved in qualifying by holding onto P1 at the first chicane. However, what Max Verstappen’s chaser in the World Drivers’ Championship did not expect was that his team-mate Oscar Piastri was going to attack him aggressively at the Variante della Roggia.
An impeccable move by the Australian driver that bordered on the limit of the ‘papaya rules’: fight freely, but without contact. A contact that Lando himself had to avoid and that also cost him P2 to Charles Leclerc too, as he regained speed on the exit.
Obviously, there is nothing to reproach Oscar Piastri for. He played his cards within the ‘rules’. However, the laxity of these ‘papaya rules’ works against the interests of Lando Norris: the British driver needs all the help he can get from the team, and his team-mate, to become World Champion.
Such liberal team orders – because allowing a fight, but adding the ‘without contact’ note is still a team order – cost Norris the chance to cut more points to leader Max Verstappen.
Many of you are probably thinking right now that what I have explained above makes no sense at all. Your argument will probably be that Ferrari won because of better tyre management or less tyre wear.
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