Max Verstappen explains why, as a driver, he would not accept team orders without good reason – he warns against being at the mercy of the team’s decisions afterwards
McLaren’s so-called “papaya rules” caused a lot of discussion during the 2025 Formula 1 season. In particular, the race in Monza, where Oscar Piastri was instructed to slow down for Lando Norris after a slow pit stop, drew a lot of criticism for the team.
Max Verstappen stated at the time that he would have ignored the team orders if he had been in Piastri’s position. And even after the end of the season, his stance has not changed. In an interview with Swiss newspaper Blick, Verstappen has now emphasized once again that he himself would “definitely not” have voluntarily let his teammate pass. “If you do this once without a clear reason, you sell your soul. The team can then do whatever it wants with you.” Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that Piastri was still in the middle of the World Championship battle at the time. In fact, the Australian was leading the World Championship before the race in Italy and was 34 points ahead of Norris.
Verstappen was 104 points behind at that point. Nevertheless, the Dutchman later finished the World Championship ahead of Piastri and just two points behind world champion Norris. In the interview, Verstappen therefore reiterates his statement that McLaren should have won the World Championship well before the season finale in Abu Dhabi. “That statement is correct.
But I never really get involved in my opponents’ internal problems,“ he emphasizes. Whether Verstappen can regain the world championship title in the 2026 season is something he does not yet know. ”None of us have any idea about the new car or the engine,” he says, referring to the completely new Formula 1 regulations that come into effect this year.
“I think we’ll be spending more time in the garages than on the track during the first tests in Barcelona starting on January 26,” he predicts, explaining that it will probably take until the two Bahrain tests in February at the earliest to get an impression of the new balance of power in Formula 1.
