McLaren now intend to prioritise Lando Norris, but in the right way, Jacques Villeneuve deeming that approach “pathetic” and claimed “it doesn’t sound like they want to win”.

McLaren in recent weeks spoke “papaya rules” into the Formula 1 dictionary, essentially the rules of engagement for Norris and Oscar Piastri out on the track, but after Piastri’s bold first-lap pass on Norris at Monza, that brought the issue of team orders at McLaren into sharper focus, with Piastri going on to finish P2 and Norris P3, costing Norris valuable points in his Drivers’ Championship charge.

Jacques Villeneuve tells McLaren: ‘You are here to win’

That led McLaren to confirm that they will now prioritise Norris, with Piastri even willing to go through the “painful” experience of giving up a win.

However, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella, when speaking to Sky F1, was keen to distance the “papaya rules” term from their approach to chasing the titles with Norris and Piastri, the “papaya rules” simply a term for their hard but fair racing expectations, while his claim that McLaren enjoys “the luxury that we have two number one, very competitive drivers” suggested that the team is actually not going full steam ahead with number one and two driver roles.

This approach from McLaren does not impress 1997 World Champion and Sky F1 pundit Villeneuve.

Put to him by Natalie Pinkham that “winning in the right way” is important to McLaren, versus the “win whatever it takes” mentality, Villeneuve said: “I guess it starts with papaya. That doesn’t sound very tough, does it?

“I mean, I don’t want to be demeaning, I’m trying to find the right words, but I find it a little bit pathetic.

“This is F1. It’s the pinnacle. If I was a McLaren fan, I would be upset. Do they really want to win? Do they care? It doesn’t sound like they want to win. You know, it’s very utopic, it’s beautiful, but that’s not F1, you are here to win. That’s all that matters.

“Lando got the better of Piastri for the first half of the season. He’s the one with a chance to win. You play by that rule.

“I really fail to understand this concept of, ‘This is how we work, it’s beautiful, we’re much happier to finish second than to win’. Somehow, it’s weird.”

Villeneuve’s fellow Sky F1 pundit Karun Chandhok backed his point, stressing that Norris got himself into the stronger position – his gap to Championship leader Max Verstappen down to 62 points – so needs the full McLaren backing.

Asked if it would be harsh on Piastri – on a strong run of form – for all effort to now be put behind Norris, Chandhok replied: “It would be, but I think to Jacques’ point, Lando started the season more strongly, and he banked the points early on.

“Listen, I’m an Oscar fan. I think he’s a tremendous talent and a very exciting prospect for the future, and he might well end up being their championship contender next year, but in the here and now, they’ve got a great chance to win both championships, but they need to back Lando.”

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri head-to-head in F1 2024

???? F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

???? F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

Focusing on that first-lap Monza battle, Villeneuve claimed McLaren gave up a “secure one-two” as a result, while claiming “psychologically” Norris has been knocked back.

“Psychologically, Lando has lost a bit of momentum, and he knows that he won’t be helped like he should be,” Villeneuve claimed, “that even if he’s quicker, there might be a move like at Monza, where he doesn’t over-defend, he tries to avoid.

“Had it been another driver than his team-mate next to him in that chicane, he would not have turned left as much, he wouldn’t have gotten out of shape. They might have banged wheels and that was it. But because it was his team-mate, he wasn’t very aggressive in his defense, and that lost a secure one-two for McLaren.”

The Constructors’ title is in much closer reach for McLaren, who are only eight points behind Red Bull and top spot going into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

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