McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has confirmed that the team will continue to offer equal opportunities to drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the 2026 Formula 1 season. Stella emphasized maintaining the 'McLaren way' of racing, building on the collaborative success achieved in 2024 and 2025. The approach, known as the 'papaya rules,' prioritizes fairness and sportsmanship between the teammates.
McLaren's 'papaya rules,' introduced last season, focus on treating both drivers fairly, an approach that drew some external criticism when it occasionally backfired but which the team intends to uphold. Speaking ahead of the MCL40's debut at the Barcelona Shakedown, Stella highlighted the continuity in internal racing principles entering 2026.
"We talked last year quite a bit about internal racing at McLaren, so let me say that from that point of view, we will enter 2026 with continuity," Stella said. "We will keep racing the McLaren way. If we have been able to achieve success in 2024 and then in 2025, what has added extra value to what we have achieved is the way in which we have achieved in such a collaborative, supportive way – [a] cohesive way – together with our drivers."
Stella recently met with Piastri and Norris, noting their enthusiasm and support for the strategy. "I actually [came here] straight from a meeting with Oscar, and before I was having lunch with Lando," he added. "The 2026 season is already fully on, even in terms of how much the drivers are engaged, and I was particularly pleased to see how energetic, proactive, full of ideas, but also full of support to the way we have gone racing the McLaren way in the past."
While reaffirming core values like fairness, integrity, equal opportunities, and sportsmanship, Stella acknowledged opportunities for refinement. The team has reviewed feedback from the 2025 season to streamline operations, making internal competition simpler without altering fundamental principles. "All this has led us to reaffirm fundamentally... that the concepts of fairness, integrity, equal opportunities, sportsmanship, they are all fundamental for the team, for Lando and for Oscar," Stella explained. "But we found a few opportunities in which we can streamline the way in which we operate collectively."
