Monza dispute settled? This is how McLaren sees the team order now

(Motorsport-Total.com) - The McLaren team order in Monza in favor of Lando Norris is still causing a stir in the Formula 1 paddock about two weeks later. Even championship leader Oscar Piastri admits to having "thought about it." No wonder: The ordered seat swap cost him valuable points in the title battle with his teammate Norris ( check out the current championship standings here! ).

But the mood at McLaren remains good, assures Piastri: "We had good discussions with the team. It was a much-discussed moment, but we have clarified many things and now know how we want to race in the future. That's the most important thing."

Norris agrees. He speaks of "some things we needed to clarify. We did that. And after that, we both accepted the decision. That's what we agreed to as a team."

It's all "less dramatic than many people think," Norris claims. "This was one of the first times in a long time that something happened. It was very similar to Hungary 2024. Apart from that, there were hardly any situations where the team had to intervene."

Are there new McLaren rules now?

But will the "papaya rules" remain unchanged, or has McLaren issued new rules after Monza? Piastri declined to comment further on this. He simply said: "A lot of it remains internal, because otherwise we would be very vulnerable if everyone knew what we were doing. But we all agree, and that remains within the team."

That's why Piastri doesn't want to "go through every [conceivable] scenario" in the media briefing, but rather talk only about the specific incident in Monza. "There, in addition to the slow pit stop [for Norris], there was another factor: the order in which we stopped. That was a deciding factor in the position swap, but I didn't have the context in the car," Piastri explains.

Norris expressed a similar view. He, for example, "didn't know anything about Leclerc's undercut," and that "played a role" in the team's decision. "So it wasn't just about the pit stop," Norris says. And McLaren was just trying "to keep it fair between us."

What's next for Norris and Piastri

But what does this mean specifically for the team's future course of action? According to Norris, he and Piastri are "99 percent free to drive."

"Of course, what happened in Monza distorted the outside perception. That was exactly the case: As soon as the positions were restored, Oscar was able to race me completely freely. He even had the advantage of starting right at the rear of my car and attacking me—so he actually won overall."

"Apart from that one lap in the pit stop window, we've always driven freely. That's how it's always been, and that's how it will stay," explains Norris.

What if it were to happen again?

Even if a situation like the one in Monza were to repeat itself, would Piastri have to let his teammate Norris pass again?

Piastri says: "If it were exactly the same situation, I would expect it to be handled the same way again. But the probability of the exact same situation repeating itself is almost zero. Every situation looks different. It won't be repeated exactly the same way."

Why Piastri has dismissed the Monza situation

That's why Piastri doesn't really want to dwell on the events in Monza. "The most important thing, from my point of view, was that I deserved third place there – not second. I was fast at times, but not over the entire weekend."

He discussed this intensively with his manager, Mark Webber, after Monza – and not so much about the team order incident. "We discussed everything with him and the team, and we're in agreement about how to proceed," says Piastri.

How the McLaren drivers deal with criticism of the team

The criticism from outside leaves him cold. Because, in his view, there was "no right or wrong" in this situation, says Piastri. "If we had done it differently, the other half of the fans would have complained. So the criticism doesn't surprise me. It was a striking moment in the race, and many fans react quickly as soon as something seems controversial."

For Norris, this is a reflection of the zeitgeist: "People these days mostly want to be negative and talk badly about others. So it doesn't surprise me at all. We need headlines—people need to read something. But that doesn't affect us as a team. We still do our thing, whether others agree or not. That's not our problem."

"We want it to be fair and equal for both of us. People can comment on everything else as they wish," says Norris.

Piastri is also taking a relaxed approach – and despite the Papaya rules, he feels "free enough to determine my own destiny in the championship," says the championship leader. "What happened, happened, and I'm looking forward to racing here again."

But would Piastri have taken it so easy if it had been about winning? "That wasn't the case," he answers. "We weren't faced with such a scenario."

"Would it have been more difficult? Probably, yes. But whether the outcome would have been different, I don't know. And I don't plan on putting myself in that position."