Guenther Steiner gives his honest opinion on whether McLaren's "Papaya Rules" are biased towards Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri

Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner claimed that McLaren's Papaya Rules were not biased towards either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri amidst recent rumors. The two McLaren drivers have been battling each other for the Drivers' Championship since the beginning of the season, but have managed to keep it clean and fair amongst themselves for the most part.

Apart from their clash in Montreal, the duo have kept their noses clean despite some close scuffles on the track. However, the Woking-based outfits' insistence on keeping it fair between the two drivers on the track has drawn a lot of criticism from fans and pundits alike as the 'papaya rules' were robbing them of Proper battle on the track.

Although following McLaren's controversial team orders call in Monza, which enabled Lando Norris to pass Oscar Piastri in the final laps of the race, some reports have claimed that the 'Papaya Rules' were biased towards the former.

In his interview with the Inside Line, Steiner rubbished these claims and gave his unfiltered take, saying:

"No, I don't think they're biased. I honestly don't think they are biased. But I think sometimes the papaya rules are overthinking racing, trying to overthink it. Obviously, I respect Zak and Andrea a lot, but if you try to be too fair, it gets to be unfair, and you take the racing away.

"But for me, the scenario was when with the slow pit stop, and then Oscar had to let Lando pass again. A pit stop is part of racing, in my opinion, you know. I mean, you cannot count. It's not all mathematics. Sometimes these things happen. You deal with that," (0:49)

Oscar Piastri remains over 25 points ahead of his rival and teammate Lando Norris in the standings despite failing to score any points in Baku.

McLaren team boss defends Papaya Rules between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris

McLaren CEO Zak Brown stated that he believed that they, as a team, had no reason to make any changes to their 'Papaya Rules' despite the threat of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen closing in on the title.

In his interview with Bloomberg, the American reflected on the final half of the 2025 season and said:

"I think you’ve got to pay attention to Max. We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing. The constructors is looking very good, and what we want is our two drivers to fight for the championship - just give them equal opportunity, equal equipment. May the best man win."

Max Verstappen sits in P3 in the standings, trailing Oscar Piastri by 69 points and Lando Norris by 44 points with seven races and three Sprints remaining in the 2025 season.