Oscar Piastri has dismissed much of the external debate surrounding McLaren's papaya rules, emphasizing that internal discussions are minimal and the team's approach remains effective. The Australian driver reflected on a strong 2025 Formula 1 season where he secured seven grand prix victories and grew as a racer. Looking ahead, McLaren plans to review and tweak its strategies before the 2026 campaign begins.
In a recent interview with TODAY, McLaren's Oscar Piastri addressed the ongoing scrutiny of the team's 'papaya rules,' which encourage open competition between teammates without favoring one driver. Piastri, who finished as a strong contender for the drivers' championship alongside Lando Norris and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, insisted that the rules' intentions are solid despite the external noise.
"It gets talked about a lot. I think behind the scenes, it's a much smaller discussion and smaller deal than what it gets made out to be," Piastri said. "But we've got our ways of going racing and it's constantly evolving."
The 2025 season marked McLaren's emergence as a top team, with Piastri achieving seven wins but ultimately falling short of the title. He expressed satisfaction with his personal development: "There's a lot of different ways you can take the 2025 season. But I think for me, I learned a lot about myself both on and off the track. I feel like I really developed quite a lot as a person. And I feel more mature. I feel more responsible. I know what I want a bit more now. And also just a sense of pride."
Even without the championship, Piastri views the year's successes as dreamlike. "Even though the end result wasn't exactly what I wanted, I think to have the amount of success that I had was something that I would have dreamed of at the start of the year."
McLaren intends to conduct a thorough review of its driver management policies. "We'll do a review, and we already have reviewed, you know, do we want to do things exactly the same? Do we want to change things a bit? So yeah, we'll get a handle on that fully before we go racing again," Piastri noted. "But I think for me, the intentions were always in the right place and we'll do some tweaking if we feel we need it to try and make life a bit easier for ourselves."
The team will unveil its 2026 car on February 9 at the Bahrain International Circuit, setting the stage for another competitive year.
