Claire Williams, the former deputy team principal of Williams, has shared her thoughts on the rumors of favoritism involving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at McLaren.
Speaking to the media, Williams emphasized that Zak Brown’s team will “always” have the “best” intentions for its drivers on race days.
In recent races, social media has been rife with speculation about McLaren favoring Norris over Piastri. According to paddock chatter, the team supposedly follows a set of guidelines known as the “Papaya Rules” for managing its drivers. However, Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren, along with Norris and Piastri themselves, have dismissed the existence of such rules and any claims of favoritism within the team.
Claire Williams, daughter of Williams F1 team founder Sir Frank Williams and deputy team principal from 2013 to 2020, spoke about the situation at McLaren during an interview with TalkSport:
“It’s not an easy piece of work. I think that at McLaren, in Lando and Oscar, they’ve got two quite relaxed drivers. But equally, they’re both competitive. They both have fought to get to where they are in Formula 1 today.”
She continued, “It’s not easy to manage and we can all look on a Monday and go ‘why did they make that decision, why did they do that?’ But all I can say is McLaren on the pit wall will always have the best intentions and try to do the best thing for their drivers on a Sunday afternoon.”
Currently, both McLaren drivers—Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri—are strong contenders for the Formula 1 World Championship. With only 24 points separating them, there is little room for error or favoritism.
Oscar Piastri, one of the title favorites, has also addressed the topic of favoritism within McLaren. Speaking after the United States Grand Prix in Austin, where both McLaren drivers suffered DNFs in the Sprint race, Piastri said:
“I’m very happy with that. We analysed the incident, and there has been responsibility placed on Lando ultimately in that collision. But I’m very happy that there’s no favouritism or bias.”
After 21 races and five sprint events, Lando Norris leads the championship with 390 points. Oscar Piastri sits closely behind in second place with 366 points. Reigning champion Max Verstappen is also in contention, currently holding third place with 341 points.
With the championship battle heating up, McLaren’s internal dynamics remain under close scrutiny, but both drivers and team members continue to affirm their commitment to fairness and strong teamwork.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-former-f1-boss-shares-honest-verdict-claims-mclaren-favoritism-lando-norris-oscar-piastri