Oscar Piastri just proved that Martin Brundle was right all along about McLaren’s papaya rules

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McLaren’s success during the 2025 F1 season was undercut by allegations of favouritism towards Lando Norris. These stemmed from some controversial pit wall decisions that helped the British driver.

This wasn’t just a theory that spread on the internet. F1 paddock insiders thought Norris was receiving preferential treatment, even if it wasn’t intentional.

McLaren bagged 14 race wins and a team-record 34 podiums to retain the constructors’ championship. They saw off a charge from Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings, but Zak Brown and Andrea Stella repeatedly had to defend the way in which they went racing.

Externally, the assumption was that Piastri was unhappy with McLaren’s management. But his latest comments should quash that theory once and for all.

Oscar Piastri says he had a ‘fair shot’ at winning the 2025 F1 title

Previewing the 2026 season at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Piastri made it clear that there is no internal bias towards Norris.

With hindsight, he says there were possibly misjudgements in 2025. But Piastri has assured his fans that he received equal opportunity to win the title and never questioned McLaren’s backing.

While one would expect a driver to toe the party line, Piastri has repeatedly expressed this sentiment. There haven’t been any damaging leaks to the media from his camp either, and perhaps that’s even more telling.

Did Oscar Piastri just end the debate over McLaren’s papaya rules?

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“I think I got a fair shot last year and I’m expecting that to stay exactly the same,” Piastri said, via ESPN. “That’s definitely not to say that certain things could have been done better last year.

“I think that was probably clear for everyone watching. But I think for me at no point were there any bad intentions or any times I questioned the intentions of things.”

So Martin Brundle was right about McLaren’s papaya rules

Piastri would be within his rights to question McLaren publicly or agitate internally, particularly as he only finished 13 points behind Norris. But he doesn’t have the inclination to do so because he’s happy at the team and he clearly trusts Brown and Stella.

Writing in his Sky Sports column at the Italian GP, the highpoint of the 2025 papaya rules debate, Martin Brundle backed senior management.

“The cohesion of this team is what’s making it so dominant this season and both drivers are smart enough to realise that for both now and into the future,” he said.

“Don’t judge either of them for playing the team game, all the other teams on the grid would kill to have two great drivers working in tandem for the good of the team like this, while also racing the wheels off the cars and doing their best to beat each other.”

It seems Brundle was right all along. McLaren’s drivers have fully bought into their unique philosophy, even though it means making some painful sacrifices.

Perhaps it’s time to stop guessing how Piastri feels and listen to all the signals from the driver himself.