Red Bull chief POKES FUN at McLaren's 'papaya rules'

Red Bull chief Helmut Marko has poked fun at McLaren following the revelation of 'papaya rules' at the Italian Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri took the lead on the opening lap of the race at Monza with an aggressive move on pole-sitter Lando Norris, who was forced to break early and almost spun when avoiding contact with his team-mate.

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With the Australian driver now in front of him, Norris was reminded of McLaren's 'papaya rules' - seemingly a set of rules for the two team-mates racing each other.

The F1 commentary team raised eyebrows about what the rules could entail and now, Marko has mocked the team regarding them.

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Of course, Red Bull had a poor showing in Italy, with Max Verstappen only managing P6 whilst Sergio Perez finished in P8.

This meant that with McLaren securing P2 and P3, the papaya team cut into Red Bull's championship lead further.

However, speaking to the media after the race about the team's result, Marko insisted he was not disappointed and took a jab at his rivals in the process: "A disappointing result? Absolutely not. We kind of saw this coming,"

"I want to congratulate Ferrari on the win and thank McLaren for their sportsmanship.

"I appreciate that and it makes our situation a little bit better."

The 81-year-old also explained how McLaren’s ‘papaya rules’ are helping Red Bull to not lose too much ground in the drivers' championship, with Norris trying to close the big gap to Verstappen.

"In other words, our default wasn't that conspicuous. It could have been worse, but the gap [to McLaren] is about the same as in Zandvoort," Marko added.

"From our point of view, we welcome this sporting approach."

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