Although McLaren only introduced Papaya Rules at the 2024 Italian GP two weeks ago, they already seemed to have ended it to help Lando Norris in his fight for the Drivers’ Championship this year. However, F1 expert Will Buxton fears the team may have made this decision too late.
In response to a post on X that claimed that McLaren have finally asked Oscar Piastri to back Norris in the championship, Buxton wrote, “Hope McLaren don’t regret waiting so long. Explanation still seemingly leaves a bit of wiggle room. Let’s see how it plays out on track.”
Hope McLaren don’t regret waiting so long. Explanation still seemingly leaves a bit of wiggle room. Let’s see how it plays out on track. https://t.co/c2hqSPy2oA
— Will Buxton (@wbuxtonofficial) September 12, 2024
Buxton still believes that McLaren’s explanation “leaves a bit of wiggle room” because Andrea Stella said that McLaren have agreed to help Norris “without too much compromise on our principles“. Stella made it clear that they will not help Norris at the expense of the team’s interests.
As for Buxton, this is not the first time that he has been critical of McLaren’s decision-making. He believes that there have been multiple instances in the past where McLaren could have favored Norris without compromising the team’s goals, but they chose against doing so.
Such decisions have often resulted in both Norris and McLaren failing to score maximum points on a race weekend. And each time they have failed in doing so, it is Max Verstappen and Red Bull who have emerged as the biggest winners.
Can Verstappen and Red Bull defend their titles?
Red Bull lost their advantage over McLaren because of the massive struggles they have faced in managing the balance on the RB20. Now, the Austrian outfit is struggling to eke out more performance on almost every circuit.
Verstappen’s bouts of brilliance have been the team’s only saving grace for most of this season and are what is still keeping them in the competition. However, it’s not enough as McLaren have reduced the gap to Red Bull to just eight points heading into his weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
As for Verstappen’s championship defense, he still seems to have a healthy 62-point lead over Norris, with just eight races remaining in the 2024 season. If McLaren are to help Norris win his maiden title, they will have to do everything they can to back the Briton in the remaining races, something they have hesitated to do so far.
It is for the same reason that experts such as Buxton believe that the team may have left it too late in ending Papaya Rules.
