McLaren 'papaya rules' saga sparks X-RATED F1 verdict

McLaren have sparked an X-rated Formula 1 verdict following their controversial team order decisions throughout the 2024 season.

The papaya outfit stormed to success in the constructors' standings in 2024, earning their first team trophy since 1998, but did so whilst making their fair share of controversial driver decisions on track.

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2024 saw duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri enter into their second year as team-mates, with the team opting to keep their stellar pairing unchanged until at least the end of 2026.

At the start of the season, neither Norris nor Piastri had claimed their maiden grand prix win, but their running total of six wins between them now is what handed the team the constructors' trophy.

Norris claimed his first F1 victory at the 2024 Miami GP and seven races later, Piastri secured his first win in the sport at the Hungarian GP with Norris in second place, but the result was marred by McLaren having spent the last 15 laps of the race begging the Brit to allow his team-mate to overtake him after previously switching positions in a tactical pitstop.

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Smedley issues bold F1 team orders verdict

The team came in for hefty criticism for their actions that day, and again just weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix, with the term 'papaya rules' used over the team radio when instructing their drivers how to race against one another.

The term was later mocked by a senior figure within constructors' rivals Red Bull, and now, in the latest episode of the Red Flags Podcast, former F1 engineer Rob Smedley has issued an x-rated verdict on the issue of team orders in the sport more generally when quizzed on the matter.

"Look, Andrea’s an ex-colleague, a friend of mine, so I don’t want to talk specifically about McLaren, but what I would say is there is in general in Formula 1 now, there’s too much pussy-footing around," Smedley explained.

"The way the radio messages go to the driver you know, I don’t watch every single race, but the races I watch I’m like, 'Oh f***ing grow a pair man', just tell him what you need to tell him!"

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The 51-year-old has now taken a step back from F1, but previously worked for Jordan, Williams and most notably, acted as race engineer for Felipe Massa whilst at Ferrari.

Smedley's partnership with Massa began midseason in 2006 and continued until 2013, seeing Massa through to the end of his campaign with the Scuderia, achieving marked success.

During his time with Ferrari however, Smedley experienced his own team orders debacle, where Ferrari were fined $100,000 for breaching regulations at the 2010 German Grand Prix.

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