Andrea Stella says McLaren will review their “papaya rules” and the drivers’ actions after Lando Norris said he and Oscar Piastri almost “crashed” when the Aussie challenged him on the opening lap of the Italian Grand Prix.
Lining up first and second on the Monza grid with Norris on pole position, Stella warned his drivers to respect the “papaya rules” and not think of their team-mate as their rival as that’s “not productive”.
McLaren will review if drivers were ‘fully compliant or not’
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher and Sam Cooper
The team-mates made a clean getaway off the line and through the Turn 1/2 chicane with Norris holding onto the lead ahead of Piastri, only for the Aussie to challenge him through the second chicane.
He not only edged ahead to take the lead, but in doing so opened the door for Charles Leclerc to then take second off Norris.
The Briton reckons had he braked “one metre later, we probably would have crashed. So something we’ll look at.”
Stella was asked in his post-race debrief with the media, including PlanetF1.com, whether Piastri had respected those papaya rules.
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