Former F1 boss shares honest verdict on claims of McLaren favoritism for Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri

Claire Williams, the former deputy team principal of Williams, shared her thoughts about the favoritism surrounding Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at McLaren. Speaking to the media, Williams stated that Zak Brown's team will "always" have "best" intentions for its drivers on race days.

In the last few races, rumors about McLaren favoring Norris over Piastri have been doing the rounds on social media. According to the paddock chatters, the team followed a set of guidelines known as the Papaya Rules for its drivers.

However, Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren, Norris, and Piastri snubbed the existence of Papaya Rules in recent times, and spoke about no such rules or favoritism in the team.

Claire Williams, the daughter of the founder of the Williams F1 team, Sir Frank Williams, ran Williams from 2013 to 2020. Speaking about the situation at McLaren, here's what he told TalkSport:

"It’s not an easy piece of work. I think that at McLaren, in Lando and Oscar, they’ve got two quite relaxed drivers. But equally, they’re both competitive. They both have fought to get to where they are in Formula 1 today."

“It’s not easy to manage and we can all look on a Monday and go ‘why did they make that decision, why did they do that?’ But all I can say is McLaren on the pit wall will always have the best intentions and try to do the best thing for their drivers on a Sunday afternoon," she further added.

Currently, both McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are in contention for the F1 world championship. As a consequence, there is no chance of error, and certainly no room for favoritism as only 24 points separate the two.

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There's no favoritism in team, said McLaren star Oscar Piastri

According to driver Oscar Piastri, there is no room for favoritism at McLaren. Speaking about this, here's what Piastri, one of the favorites to win the title, told the media:

Oscar Piastri of McLaren competes during the F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo, Brazil on November 9, 2025 - Source: Getty

"I'm very happy with that," Piastri said after the United States GP at Austin, where both McLaren drivers faced DNF in Sprint. "We analysed the incident, and there has been responsibility placed on Lando ultimately in that collision. But I'm very happy that there's no favouritism or bias."

After 21 races and five sprints, Lando Norris is leading the championship with 390 points. His McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri is in P2 with 366 points. Reigning champion, Max Verstappen, is also in contention, and is in P3 with 341 points.