Jenson Button says Oscar Piastri must work out whether Zak Brown really has his back at McLaren

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McLaren have bent over backwards this season to try and make sure their treatment of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri has been as fair as possible.

The first mention of ‘papaya rules’ at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix immediately created a debate about how McLaren treat their drivers.

Lando Norris gave up track position to hand Oscar Piastri his first F1 victory in Hungary last year, but with the drivers’ championship on the line this season, it’s become one of the biggest talking points in the paddock.

Norris has taken a 24-point lead in the championship heading into the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where Andrea Stella and Zak Brown will be hoping both of their drivers can stay out of trouble.

David Croft and Jenson Button have been discussing the pair’s recent form and their demeanours in the paddock.

Croft, in particular, has noticed Piastri making comments about one incident that suggest he’s not completely at ease with McLaren’s decision-making this season.

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David Croft worries Oscar Piastri is still thinking about Italian Grand Prix ‘setback’

Croft was speaking on The F1 Show about the two McLaren drivers and said: “It’s weird because we see Oscar, we see Lando, and I think we’ve seen a very chilled Lando walking around the paddock.

“I haven’t noticed a huge amount of difference in Oscar’s demeanour.

“He’ll still stop and have a conversation. He’ll still crack a gag if he’s got the time to do it.

“But I have seen a few comments where he’s talked about Monza, and that’s still preying on his mind a bit, and he’s kind of been mulling over what happened that weekend.

“I don’t know how you get rid of that, then. If that actually does prey on your mind, how do you get over a setback or a weekend where you think, actually, you’ve not been doing what’s right for me?”

Button responded to Croft’s remarks and replied: “You’ve got to get out there and speak to Zak and Andrea, those are the people who make the decisions, and you need to speak to them and say, ‘Was this the case? Was this fair? Would you do it again? Do you have my back?’ and you have to trust them when they tell you the truth.”

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Jos Verstappen offers Oscar Piastri advice as 2025 drivers’ championship battle intensifies

The role that Norris and Piastri’s teams are going to play behind the scenes over the next few weeks could end up deciding who becomes Formula 1’s newest champion.

Max Verstappen can’t mathematically be ruled out at this stage, although if Norris wins in Las Vegas, then the Dutchman will need to finish second to stay in contention.

His father, Jos Verstappen, has offered the Piastri camp some advice on how to deal with the pressure of being involved in an F1 title battle.

The 24-year-old hasn’t finished on the podium since the Italian Grand Prix, and if he had stayed in second, rather than yielding to Norris and dropping down to P3, then it would have been interesting to see how the following races played out.

There are a dozen turning points that both drivers could point to this year, but the final triple-header of the year will ultimately decide the championship.