What are 'Papaya rules'? McLaren boss explains the terms of engagement between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

McLaren CEO Zak Brown shared that the 'Papaya Rules' between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri insinuated that both drivers could race each other fairly on the track as they were starting on the front row at Monza. Despite a double podium finish on Sunday, it was a relatively disappointing result for the Woking-based team as they finished P2 and P3 with Piastri leading Norris.

The Aussie driver made one of the moves of the season on the opening lap when he passed his teammate going into della Roggia chicane at Monza to take the race lead. The overtake caught the British driver by surprise as he was not expecting his teammate to pull off an aggressive move on him. This caused him to lose second position to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

During the race, both drivers were told to follow 'Papaya Rules' at various points, which left many fans mulling over the meaning. In his post-race interview with Sky Sports, McLaren's boss explained the 'Papaya Rules' message and said:

"Papaya rules, it's your teammate, race him hard, race him clean, don't touch, that happened. It was an aggressive pass so that's a conversation that we'll have. It was a bit nerve-wracking on pit wall but it's really just respect your teammate."

In his post-race press conference, Lando Norris also mentioned that 'papaya rules' indicated that "don't crash, that's all".

Lando Norris gives his take on Oscar Piastri's overtake in Monza

McLaren driver Lando Norris said that he would have braked a bit later in his defense against Oscar Piastri in Turn 4 if he was given another opportunity.

He told the media:

"Just brake a bit later. Simple as that. But sometimes it's easier said than done. You know, Oscar obviously braked on the limit and gave me space. It was just about enough. I did my best to avoid anything else happening at the time. But at the same time, if I brake two meters later, you don't know and you can't predict."

"But two meters later it could easily have been a crash. So it's a tough one. The easiest thing is just to brake way later and force him off and I kind of treat it like no one else. I don't know. I obviously took it easy. I saw we had a massive gap behind, so maybe I was just a bit too much on the cautious side and paid the price," he added.

Norris missed a huge opportunity to make a dent in Max Verstappen's championship lead as the Red Bull driver started from P7 and could only manage to finish in P6. The Brit took only eight points from the lead and now trails the three-time world champion by 62 points with eight races and three Sprints remaining.