Why McLaren's title rivals may be about to turn nasty

Nice guy teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have so far adhered to 'papaya rules' – but one could soon break rank

- KIERAN JACKSON FORMULA 1 CORRESPONDENT

Another race, another twist in this fascinating intra-team title battle for the F1 world championship between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Only this time, amid a disorderly few minutes for McLaren in the Monza pit lane, the yardstick has shifted somewhat.

The finale to Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, as Max Verstappen coasted to victory in a Red Bull car unexpectedly superior to this year's runaway leaders, took a surprising turn with a few laps to go. Piastri and Norris were holding out for a late safety car, having not pitted at all in the 53-lap race. With no incident forthcoming, third-placed Piastri pitted first; second-placed Norris followed a lap later.

Yet the Brit, who like 12 months ago is playing catch-up in the drivers' title race, experienced another dose of bad luck, one week on from his mechanical retirement from the Dutch Grand Prix. A slow stop of 5.9 seconds, due to a pedestrian front-left tyre change, meant he emerged on the racetrack behind his teammate and championship leader Piastri. Suddenly, McLaren had a decision to make.

Piastri's engineer Tom Stallard, a former Olympic rower well-versed in the fine margins of elite sport, had quickly been informed of the way in which McLaren team principal Andrea Stella wanted it to play out.