Zak Brown jokingly reveals the true meaning behind McLaren’s controversial ‘papaya rules’

The term ‘papaya rules’ has been a major talking point at McLaren in the 2024 Formula 1 season.

The Woking-based outfit’s young talents Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have shown several times this year their willingness to battle each other on track.

But at times it has crossed the line of acceptability for McLaren. The most notable incident was Piastri’s first lap pass at Monza on Norris at turn four, which also let Charles Leclerc past the Brit and ultimately cost the team a one-two finish on Ferrari home soil.

McLaren intervened after the Italian Grand Prix with their ‘papaya rules’ – which was almost instantly seen as controversial.

Effectively, the rules prioritised Norris in his bid to win the drivers’ championship over Max Verstappen, with Piastri offering support to his teammate and racing him in a much cleaner manner.

Zak Brown reveals ‘papaya rules’ was meant to promote their new merchandise line

McLaren’s intervention ultimately failed as Verstappen claimed his fourth consecutive title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, having put the championship out of sight the race before in Sao Paulo where he won from 17th in a sensational performance.

The MCL38 has been the fastest package on the F1 grid for much of this season and many can argue that 2024 was a missed opportunity for the team. Norris has made several mistakes this season that have been costly for his title aspirations, but McLaren have not helped themselves with some poor strategic decisions across the year.

Marc Surer says McLaren made a mistake not prioritising Norris earlier and that the season could have looked a lot different had they stepped in and focused their attention on the Brit sooner.

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Papaya rules does indicate that McLaren can and will intervene with their drivers if necessary, but speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, CEO Zak Brown outlined that the term was not originally meant for that purpose.

He joked as he revealed that papaya rules was actually meant to promote their new merchandise.

He said: “Well, we wanted to come out with a merchandise line that said ‘papaya rules’ so it was really actually about promoting the new clothing line!”

McLaren can win their first constructors’ title in 26 years at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

While the team may have failed to defeat Red Bull in the Drivers’ Championship, McLaren are on course to secure their first constructors’ title since 1998.

Heading into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Woking-based outfit lead Ferrari by 21 points. The Maranello squad cut down their rivals’ advantage in Qatar after Norris finished down in 10th following a penalty for failing to lift under yellow flags.

Ferrari are on a losing streak themselves, having not claimed any silverware since 2008. The Italian team will be eager to finish the season strong to build into 2025 when Lewis Hamilton joins from Mercedes.

But McLaren will provide serious competition, especially given that Piastri says the original papaya rules are back in place, allowing him to fight more freely and challenge at the front.