Lando Norris: 'I don't want to be given the F1 title — I wouldn't be proud of it'

“It still needs some more discussion,” says the Australian. “But I think the main point is it’s not purely just going to be me pulling over for Lando every single race, because that’s how none of us, including Lando, want to go racing.

“Trying to go through all the scenarios is impossible, and we don’t want to discuss that publicly.

“I think the main one is if we feel that someone has done a much better job on a weekend, whichever way it is, we want that person to be rewarded. And that’s where it of course becomes a little bit tricky still, and we need to continue discussing that.

“It’s not simply a blanket, ‘I’m going to be behind Lando in every single race’, in every decision that’s ever taken from here on out, because I still have things that I want to achieve in the championship, and I’m trying to boost my standing in the drivers’ championship.”

Aside from place swapping on track, there may be weekends when Norris is now routinely given priority on strategy, or gets the sole set of updates that are available, when usually the two drivers would alternate such benefits.

For the most part Piastri just has to carry on doing his own thing, which is logical given that the team also needs him to contribute to the constructors’ title battle.

“He’s still fighting for his own racing,” says Norris. “He’s still going out and doing his stuff. And it could be that there’s no time this year that he needs to help me. It’s more that I’ve got Oscar’s help when needs be. But he’s still going out with the intent of every session of fighting for himself.

“We’ve had decisions before and we’ve had things that we’ve run to, we’ve just not publicly said it. So it’s more that we just told you what you want to hear finally, than anything else!

“We’ve always worked well as a team. I think now there’s probably a bit more of a structure to it, and an understanding that we have internally on what positions will change, what scenarios will change, and how we can help one another. And obviously, how he can help me.”

Independent of team orders and scenarios that prioritise Norris is the difficult issue of the way the pair race on track.

It goes without saying that not crashing into each other is the basic tenet of what are now known as the ‘Papaya Rules,’ a phrase that popped up in radio conversations during the Italian GP.

“We’ve had Papaya Rules for years,” says Norris. “Just because you’ve heard it a few times now, you think it’s something that’s just started now. We’ve just classed it as the Papaya Rules. Andrea likes to come up with different names for different things!

“That’s just rule number one between you and your team-mate. And clearly it’s not worked for other people and other teams in the past, but we want to make sure that between us, that’s not the case.”

The first lap of the Italian GP brought up a different aspect of how they should be racing each other. On that occasion Piastri made a clean pass for the lead on Norris, and they safely avoided contact. However, the way the move unfolded put the latter off the ideal line on the exit of the chicane, and allowed Charles Leclerc to get in between them.

Given that what happened was to the overall detriment of the team Stella had made it clear that such a scenario not to happen again – in other words Piastri can’t attempt to pass Norris (or indeed the other way around) if so doing puts the other car at risk of losing places and hence points to rivals.

“The main thing is we came out of Turn 4 first and third, and we had the biggest gap in the world going into the corner,” says Norris. “That’s not how we should have gone racing there. I think [we have] clearer instructions of how we can race each other, and how much we can risk with one another.”

“Monza was, let’s say, a pretty specific scenario where we did have a decent gap to the car in third,” says Piastri. “And just being honest, there were not that many ways we could have done it to not be first and second. And we did!

“It’s certainly not a blanket rule of I can’t attack Lando, or can’t overtake Lando”

“In those circumstances what I did was fine. I thought it was a good move. And of course, the consequence of coming out of the corner first and third is not what we want as a team.

“And of course, it takes both of our co-operation to make sure that that result doesn’t happen again. But in those circumstances, it was all by the book, and there was nothing wrong with that. It was purely just that the result out of that corner was not exactly what we wanted.”

It won’t be an easy situation for the drivers to manage. The chances are that over the remaining eight races they will frequently be together on the grid, and indeed potentially on the front row together, as was the case in Monza.

Throw in the fact that the McLaren doesn’t make the best starts – and Norris famously has a terrible record of converting his poles into a lead at the end of the first lap – and it gets even more complicated.

History relates that trying to help your team mate at the start often doesn’t play out well. Yes, you can give him more margin than you give rivals, and avoid contact at all costs. However, actively trying to give him priority in the rush to the first corner goes against every driver’s instinct.

Piastri can’t hesitate or back off and say ‘after you Lando’ – he has to focus on doing the best for himself, keep others behind, and then sort things can be sorted out with Norris later on.

“There’ll be certain times when it’s just not smart to battle,” says Norris. “I think if you go into a lap one and that’s on your mind, that’s the wrong approach. I think you both have to go in to lap one with the right approach, which is to attack and to try and go forward.

“So as soon as you start thinking about those things, that’s normally when it starts to go wrong…”

“Of course, there are discussions, we’ve spoken about it,” says Piastri. “But it’s certainly not a blanket rule of I can’t attack Lando, or can’t overtake Lando.

“Our way of racing always has been to look after each other, which is basically what Papaya Rules are, to look after each other and not crash into each other.

“That is still exactly the same, and yet in different scenarios where there are other cars around, of course, you need to use your instinct.

“It’s not as simple as just wait for one car to do one thing, or whatever, you have to play it how it comes to you at the time.

“So that’s where it’s of course not that easy to just say ‘in this scenario again’, because the likelihood of having that exact [Monza] scenario again is probably less than point one of a percent…”

What is clear is that McLaren’s priorities will reset at the end of the year, with both drivers being given an equal shot in 2025. In theory any sacrifices that Piastri has to make in the coming races will one day be repaid.

“It’s something that won’t be forgotten, I guess, in the future,” he says. “I know that if it was the other way around, then we would be having exactly the same discussions about driver A or driver B.

“There’s been things in the past, whether it be with upgrades or strategy in some races, that have always been remembered in the future. So that’s kind of our way of going.”