In Australia, the title fight between Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, and Max Verstappen is being closely watched. Recently, McLaren’s alleged preference for Norris even reached political circles. During a Senate meeting, Senator Matt Canavan brought up a striking agenda item: is McLaren biased against Oscar Piastri? This light-hearted jest stemmed from serious suspicions that the papayas would rather see the title go to Norris.
Oscar Piastri led the 2025 championship for fifteen Grand Prix; for a long time, he seemed to be the clear world champion. However, during the Mexico City GP, he lost the lead to teammate Lando Norris. With only one race weekend left, he has now slipped to third place. Due to a strategic blunder by McLaren in Qatar, Piastri was overtaken by Max Verstappen. He still has a chance at the title, but with a deficit of 16 championship points behind his teammate, he is far from the favorite.
The ‘Papaya Rules’
Some fans attribute Piastri’s current lag to an alleged preference for Norris within McLaren. His Australian supporters point to the team’s past strategic decisions. McLaren often operated based on the controversial ‘papaya rules’, which stipulate that both drivers should be given equal opportunities. However, in practice, Piastri often ended up on the losing end. For instance, he had to give up second place to Norris in Monza after the Brit had a poor pit stop. In Singapore, Piastri argued that his teammate had overtaken him illegally at the start, but the pit wall did not respond.
Senator Matt Canavan weighed in on the debate after the Qatar GP. During a meeting of the Senate Committee for Rural Affairs, Regional Affairs, and Transport Legislation, he raised the issue with Secretary Jim Betts. “It was a pretty frustrating evening for some Australians,” he said. “I don’t even know who exactly I should ask this, but you deal with transport and cars: do you think McLaren has something against Oscar Piastri and that it’s costing him the world title?” The room burst into laughter as Betts tried to skillfully dodge the question. Minister for Regional Affairs Anthony Chisholm followed up with a diplomatic response: “I absolutely think he has had to endure some tough decisions this year.”
