Juan Pablo Montoya outlines why Oscar Piastri knew Lando Norris was ‘vulnerable’ to lose the Italian Grand Prix

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McLaren were blisteringly fast at the Italian Grand Prix but failed to take victory despite locking out the front row of the grid.

Charles Leclerc won the race, but the significant moment of the Grand Prix came between McLaren’s drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

The two McLaren’s were side-by-side on the opening lap heading into the Della Roggia chicane and Piastri swept around the outside to take the lead.

His teammate desperately gathered up oversteer in the middle of the turn and lost second place to Leclerc at the start of the race.

The move prompted the McLaren drivers to be reminded of ‘papaya rules’ when it comes to battling each other and keeping both cars on the track.

Juan Pablo Montoya believes Piastri knew his teammate couldn’t take any huge risks in the race’s opening stages, as he is fighting for the championship when speaking to AS Colombia.

Juan Pablo Montoya believes Oscar Piastri ‘took advantage of Papaya rules’

Piastri has been improving throughout his time at McLaren and is now getting closer Norris’ level consistently.

The overtake around the outside of the Della Roggia chicane was a statement move as his teammate tried to close down Max Verstappen’s championship lead.

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Throughout the rest of the race, Piastri drove well, making minimal errors and was very close to reeling in Leclerc before the chequered flag.

In contrast, Norris made mistakes and cost himself time before finishing behind his teammate, although he did take an eight-point chunk out of Verstappen’s advantage.

Montoya believes that Piastri was aware his teammate couldn’t take a significant risk and used ‘papaya rules’ to his advantage.

He said: “Piastri took advantage of what they call Papaya rules because he knew that Lando couldn’t battle him and knew that Lando was fighting for the championship and was vulnerable to crashing.”

Lando Norris is running out of time to close the gap to Max Verstappen in the championship standings

There are eight races to go this season, and although Norris gained on the Dutchman in Itay, he still left 10 points on the table.

Red Bull has been operating below its lofty standards and has not won a race since June’s Spanish Grand Prix.

The next couple of races in Azerbaijan and Singapore may allow McLaren and Norris to close the gap further as Red Bull floundered at Marina Bay a year ago.

However, on a more conventional track such as Circuit of The Americas, Red Bull could be back on form as five of the last six rounds are run on permanent tracks.