Nico Rosberg believes after Monza it’s clear that Oscar Piastri has a “number one” driver contract which means he does not have to help Lando Norris unless he chooses to.
And right now he doesn’t, given he too is mathematically in the fight for the Drivers’ Championship title.
‘Oscar Piastri in his contract he will have a number one contract’
McLaren lined up on the Italian Grand Prix grid with their best opportunity yet to make inroads into Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s leads in the championship with the Dutchman down in P7, one place ahead of his team-mate Sergio Perez.
However, facing a tricky run down to Turn 1, team boss Andrea Stella reminded his drivers of McLaren’s “papaya rules” and stressed the mindset for the team-mates must be to work in “synergy”.
But while they made the best getaway possible with pole-sitter Norris ahead of Piastri into the first chicane, at the second chicane the Aussie attacked his team-mate for the lead that, even with the undercut in both pit stops, Norris wasn’t able regain the lead.
Papaya rules and Oscar Piastri’s points
Taking the chequered flag in second and third places having lost the win to the one-stopping Charles Leclerc, Piastri put another 18 points on the board while Norris scored 16 as he bagged the fastest lap point to close the gap to Verstappen to 62 points.
But on a day when rival team bosses were surprised McLaren didn’t issue team orders in favour of Norris, Rosberg says that hints at a “number one contract” for the Aussie.
“It is hard though on Oscar, because Oscar in his contract he will have a number one contract,” he told the Sky F1 podcast. “Yeah, it won’t say in his contract that you need to help Lando.
“Oscar is driving brilliantly so he deserves every opportunity, just from his point of view, to get race wins.”
The 23-year-old also still mathematically has a shot at winning the title as he’s 44 points behind Norris with eight Grands Prix and three Sprints remaining.
“Plus,” Rosberg continued, “let’s also remember, mathematically, he can still be World Champion. So there’s also that.
“I mean, he’s not that far behind Lando. It’s like 40 points or something, that he’s behind Lando, if I’m guessing now, something like that. So he’s not that far behind either.
“So it’s hard to ask of Oscar to start forfeiting race wins potentially.”
The 2016 F1 World Champion went on to warn McLaren against breaking Piastri’s “trust” in the team by forcing him to play second fiddle to Norris.
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