Bernie Ecclestone slams McLaren over Norris-Piastri swap: “They want Lando as champion”. Bernie Ecclestone criticises McLaren after the Monza GP, claiming the team favours Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri.

McLaren, more controversy after Monza
For the second consecutive time, McLaren has been at the centre of criticism at Monza because of the so-called papaya rules. Last year Oscar Piastri overtook Lando Norris around the outside at the Roggia chicane even though the British driver was theoretically still in the fight for the World Championship, although he later proved unable to close the gap to Max Verstappen. This past Sunday, the team gave the position back to the vice world champion after a slow pit stop had temporarily favoured the Australian.

Ecclestone’s words
Among the critics is also Bernie Ecclestone, who commented harshly on Andrea Stella’s decision: “I would not have changed positions. They constantly talk about fairness. But is it fair to punish Piastri for a mistake made by the team? No,” he told Blick. “There is the impression that McLaren would prefer Norris to become world champion. Errors such as slow pit stops or engine problems are less common nowadays, but they are still part of the sport.”

In the past few hours Toto Wolff has also spoken negatively about the position swap, and FormulaPassion can confirm that another current team principal – in Andrea Stella’s position – would have taken the opposite approach.

The decision by the papaya team is certainly debatable, especially since for both Piastri and Norris it would be the first world title. Stella, when meeting the journalists, justified it by saying that the team had stopped Piastri first and then Norris, making it clear to the British driver from the start that the positions would not be switched