Piastri: Without team orders, Norris and I did right thing

During the 2024 Formula 1 season, McLaren issued what they called "Papaya Rules" as they aimed to control the relationship between their competitive drivers.

The idea was to make sure they did the best thing for the team, but that meant confusion and sometimes controversy were the end result.

While Norris was the best-placed driver to fight Max Verstappen for the F1 drivers' championship, McLaren ordered him to give the lead to Piastri in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Norris started on pole, but Piastri passed him on the opening lap, only for the Briton to retake the lead after the pit stops.

It was an embarrassing affair listening to the McLaren pit wall begging Norris to give Piastri the position, which he eventually did.

After another fight between their drivers at Monza, McLaren said Norris will be given priority over Piastri, but they did not need to use it much, and while Piastri let Norris through in the Sao Paulo Sprint, the latter returned the favor in the Qatar Sprint after he lost the mathematical chance to beat Verstappen.

Piastri, speaking to Motorsport.com, was asked if it was a good thing to set the rules of engagement with Norris in 2024 when he was not fighting for the title.

He responded: "I mean, it's a bit of a catch-22. I think if I was better situated, then there wouldn't be team orders.

"I think it's been made a much bigger deal than it has been, you know. There's not really been any situation so far where we've actually needed to use them, so to speak.

"So yes, some things have changed a little bit, and there's a few more rules or some tweaks to some of the ways we go racing, but again, they're very, very specific scenarios, I would say. So yeah, it's been I think a much bigger story for everyone outside the team.

"For us involved, we know to do the right thing when we need to," Piastri pointed out. "And yeah, I think next year of course I want to be in a position where I can fight and hopefully, it's just me and Lando that can fight for the championship, that's our ideal scenario.

"But even without these sort of more prescribed team orders, we've always worked in terms of doing the right thing for each other, and I don't think that will ever change," he insisted.

Piastri is managed by former F1 driver Mark Webber, who had his fair share of team orders from his days at Red Bull when he was Sebastian Vettel's teammate, which culminated in the Multi 21 controversy during the 2013 Malaysian when the German overtook the Australian to take the win, ignoring orders from Red Bull not to attack.

Piastri was asked if he sought advice from Webber; he said: "Yes and no. I mean, not directly. I think the situation here at McLaren is very different to what Mark experienced in his career.

"I think there have maybe been pointers here and there, and just helping the team in some ways with what he felt didn't work well in his experience and what he did because I think for a lot of people in the team it's quite a new scenario as well.

"So I think it's been helpful for everybody to have kind of his input on what he thought was good or bad at the time.

"But [he is] certainly not leading the team in terms of 'you need to do this or that'. Or even for me, you know, like 'don't stand for this or that'. It's been just very much his own experience and that's been more or less it," Piastri concluded.

While McLaren won the 2024 F1 constructors' title, Norris was runner-up behind Verstappen in the drivers' championship, while Piastri finished the season fourth despite winning in Hungary and Azerbaijan.