Piastri's move in Azerbaijan GP shows he's the real deal

Before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, most of the paddock talk over the race weekend had been all about team orders at McLaren.

- David Tremayne

What team boss Andrea Stella likes to call Papaya Rules, on account of the shade of orange used since 1968 by team founder Bruce McLaren, and more recently revived by uber-boss Zak Brown.

But, after Oscar Piastri smashed the opposition to win a gripping race and put McLaren into the lead in the constructors' championship (which they have won eight times but haven't headed since 2014), it was more a case of Papaya Ruled.

Papaya Rules are the protocol by which the team are run, which means that while the drivers can race each other they aren't expected to do anything that might harm the team. And after Monza, where Piastri passing Lando Norris had turned a possible 1-2 into a 2-3 behind Ferrari, the big question was whether McLaren would now favour Norris as they aimed for the world championship for drivers, too.

Ironically, though, Dame Fortune sneered at Norris in qualifying and left him 17th on the grid (15th after Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly were dropped back for an engine change and a fuelling infringement respectively), he was the one who ended up helping his teammate and not the other way around.