Oscar Piastri pushes back on McLaren's papaya rules debate ahead of 2026 season

Oscar Piastri has once again played down McLaren's so-called papaya rules, insisting that the idea behind them was sound despite them coming under intense scrutiny throughout the 2025 Formula 1 season.

The Australian driver enjoyed a successful season with the Woking team as he emerged as a contender for the drivers' championship alongside his team-mate Lando Norris and Red Bull rival Max Verstappen. With the outfit establishing itself fully as a leading team, it maintained that its drivers were open to race.

This approach to its drivers' competition became a talking point throughout the season as pundits questioned whether the team would ever choose its lead driver to back. 

Speaking with TODAY, Piastri was asked about the feeling from his side of the garage. 

"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.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

"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.

"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.”

Piastri's season yielded seven grand prix wins. But while he ultimately fell short of a title challenge, he's content with how he's grown as a driver and looks forward to using this growth to fight in 2026.

"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.”

He added: "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 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 will launch its 2026 challenger on 9 February at the Bahrain International Circuit.