Oscar Piastri addresses questions around how the 'Papaya Rules' might be acting as a deterrent in the title battle against Max Verstappen

Oscar Piastri believes that the rules of engagement between the two McLaren drivers for the title battle will not add pressure, along with the resurgence of Max Verstappen. Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, in the press conference in Mexico, the Melbourne-born driver also claimed that the team repercussions Lando Norris was to endure after the Singapore clash have been removed.

The McLaren duo collided in Singapore, where Norris touched Piastri while overtaking him. McLaren had suggested that there would be repercussions for the Briton until the Australian crashed into him in the sprint in Austin. With Verstappen's resurgence in the title race, the question remains whether the internal ‘Papaya Rules’ of engagement within the team will add more caution and pressure on their drivers.

Piastri believes it won't add more pressure, as long as the McLaren duo doesn’t clash again and take each other out of the race. However, he felt that there had to be decent rules of engagement when teammates race each other, irrespective of the situation. He also suggested that the consequences Norris was to face after the Singapore GP were irrelevant when he himself was responsible for taking the Briton out at the sprint in Austin.

Asked by Sportskeeda if the McLaren rules of engagement added weight or pressure to the chase in a three-way title battle, Oscar Piastri said:

“Not necessarily, no. I think for us, it’s pretty clear what those rules are, which is don’t crash into each other. But I think regardless of what scenario you’re in, that’s kind of how you’re expected to race as team-mates. So I don’t think that adds any pressure into the scenario."

Asked if the consequences for Norris were removed after the clash in Austin, he said:

“Yes, the consequences from Lando’s side have been removed. And yes, ultimately, it was that. There’s a lot of factors involved, but ultimately, yes - that’s what’s been decided.”

Now that Red Bull has been performing considerably better at tracks like Monza and Singapore following their revised upgrade package, Piastri also addressed the fact that it is much harder to predict a clear winner between them and his team for the remainder of the races.

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Oscar Piastri reckons that it is difficult to predict which tracks suit the McLaren versus the Red Bull

Oscar Piastri believes that predicting track suitability for McLaren and Red Bull over the remaining five rounds will be difficult. He noted that each circuit’s characteristics tend to favor different cars, making it hard to identify a clear advantage. However, the Australian expects the battle to remain closely fought right through to the final race in Abu Dhabi.

Asked which track suited McLaren versus the tracks suiting Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri replied:

“I think like I said before, it’s very difficult to read. For me, it’s difficult to predict who’s going to be strong where. I think if anything, it’s more about who maximises their car each weekend rather than whose car suits different things, because there were certain things in Austin that potentially worked well for us, but certain things that didn’t, and a lot of other circumstances. So it’s very, very difficult to judge, but I think it will be close everywhere we go.”

The next five rounds on the calendar present completely different circuit characteristics, making the final stretch of the season highly unpredictable. With two sprint events and five full races still offering valuable points, the battle between the three championship protagonists is expected to remain fiercely contested. Oscar Piastri currently leads teammate Lando Norris by 14 points and Max Verstappen by 40. Meanwhile, the fight for second in the Constructors’ Championship between Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari adds another layer of intrigue, setting up an exciting conclusion to the season.