Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are now facing a far more concerning problem than papaya rules

Follow us on Google Discover

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are facing a difficult situation at McLaren as Max Verstappen mounts the pressure on them to seal the 2025 title.

McLaren looked to be in full control of the championship, having won 12 of the opening 15 races. After claiming victory at Zandvoort, Piastri was the odds-on favourite for the title after Norris retired from the race, while Verstappen was over 100 points behind.

Fast forward to the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend, Piastri only leads Norris by 14 points, while Verstappen is 40 points behind after winning three of the last four races. Neither McLaren driver has beaten the four-time champion during that time.

Red Bull have dramatically improved in development after the summer break, but McLaren have also not helped themselves. The way they have handled the title fight with their drivers has been called into question, notably over papaya rules.

Norris was favoured over Piastri at Monza after the Brit ended up behind his teammate following a slow pit stop. Despite it being out of the Aussie’s control, the team asked the drivers to swap positions, with David Coulthard accusing McLaren of ‘manipulating’ the result.

Papaya rules came under fire again in Singapore, after the Woking outfit decided not to act after their drivers collided on the opening lap, leaving Piastri furious over the radio. While team orders are a problem, there is a far more concerning issue at play.

Forget papaya rules, McLaren’s slow pit stops will cost Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris the 2025 F1 title

The controversy over team orders at Monza was sparked by a slow pit stop for Norris. McLaren pitted Piastri first to protect him from an undercut from Charles Leclerc, while his teammate suffered a slow stop and ended up being undercut himself.

Alarmingly, this issue repeated in the next three races. Norris had a 4.1-second stop in Baku, which left him stuck behind the cars in front in the dirty air, while Piastri had a 5.2-second stop in Singapore, denying him the chance to catch his rivals.

At the United States Grand Prix, Piastri enjoyed the second-fastest stop of the race when he came in at the halfway stage. Meanwhile, Norris was held back by 1.5 seconds after another slow tyre change.

While it did not affect his race too much – Norris overtook Leclerc for second late in the race – this is a concerning issue for McLaren. The team have lost time in each of the last four races through no fault of the drivers.

The inconsistency with pit stops could prove costly in the final five races of the season, especially when Verstappen has the momentum. Another slow tyre change could mean the difference between Piastri or Norris becoming champion, or both losing out.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

Andrea Stella claimed McLaren had identified slow pit stops as an issue – they have persisted

Speaking after the Azerbaijan GP, team principal Andrea Stella told ESPN that pit stops were an area that McLaren were focused on improving.

He said: “Definitely in terms of pit stops, that’s an area in which we have already concentrated our efforts,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said after the race.

“As a matter of fact, we need to keep working because there’s some important performance that is available through pit stops.

“And we have seen that the racing, if anything, is getting tighter and tighter. So what is the impact of a pit stop now gets more and more important.”

Two races after his claim, and the problem is still present in the pit box. While Stella is focusing on the 2026 F1 regulations, this issue clearly needs addressing now, especially when McLaren are facing increasing pressure from Verstappen.

Insiders are now backing Verstappen as the favourite for the title, with McLaren’s operational errors hampering Piastri and Norris’ chances. Slow pit stops cannot persist if they want to hold on to the 2025 drivers’ championship.