Monza gave us speed, Tifosi, and a classic dose of McLaren strategy weirdness (becoming a more regular occurrence all the time). For all the talk about papaya harmony and “operating procedures,” the Italian Grand Prix exposed the thin and circumstantial line between process and paralysis.
McLaren’s Papaya Rules and the Kerfuffle
The call was simple enough, pit Oscar Piastri first to cover the undercut threat from Charles Leclerc. Logical. Except Oscar put in a sharp outlap, Lando Norris had a slow stop, and suddenly the whole neat plan unraveled. Instead of the natural pit order (which probably would have played out fine), McLaren found themselves boxed into another awkward and cringe scenario.
The end result? Lando was shuffled back ahead of Oscar on team orders, with Andrea Stella waving the procedural flag: “this is how we operate.” Which is fine, except when you realize that pit stop errors happen all the time. If Oscar had just been a half-second quicker and jumped Lando organically, are we really pretending they’d have swapped them back? Would there be a rule in McLaren's operating procedures that covers normal pit stops being 3.5 seconds or less? And this was 5.9 so it's a team error? Unfortunately there is always an element of luck in racing and being in the right place at the right time. So my main question is how do they determine the line gets drawn between “procedure” and “that’s just racing”? I'm sure McLaren will go back and audit this and prepare for the situation in the future, but these situations seem to arise of their own making and put massive strain on the Papaya Rulebook.
It’s the question McLaren doesn’t want to answer, because so far the two drivers have played the good soldiers. What exactly are these operational agreements? Both want to be McLaren lifers. Both want to win the title without being the villain. But history tells us titles aren’t won with handshakes and smiles. Senna didn’t care. Prost didn’t care. Rosberg and Hamilton certainly didn’t care. McLaren’s harmony is admirable, but one can’t help but wonder how long it lasts if the difference between a World Championship and second place comes down to a slow wheel gun in Abu Dhabi. I'm starting to think they won't let the gloves come off and put more of the strategy decisions to the drivers even once they've wrapped up the constructors and for the sake of the show that is Formula One, that would be a tragedy in the eyes of the viewers.
Red Bull’s Reset
On the other side of the paddock, Red Bull is tidying up the Horner hangover nicely. Laurent Mekies is the grown-up in the room, a technically minded leader who trades the sharp-elbowed politics for engineering pragmatism. For Max Verstappen, that’s almost ideal. He’s already dictating the setup direction; now he has a team principal who will let the car revolve entirely around him. On top of that, Pierre Wache is underrated after having lived in Newey's shadow and will be looking to show his worth the rest of the season and in preparation for '26.
The second seat is, as ever, the loose bolt. Yuki Tsunoda has shown flashes but not the consistency needed to silence doubters. If he can steady the ship in the back half of the season, great. If not, the 2026 driver will have to live with one unavoidable truth: everything at Red Bull bends around Verstappen. Mekies’ job is to make that inevitability as painless as possible and hopefully with Max's help someone like Hadjar can have a car that isn't a katana level blade-edge.
Ferrari and Mercedes: Future or Bust
As for Ferrari and Mercedes, the writing’s on the wall. The present is lost, the future is everything. Wasting resources chasing McLaren and Red Bull in 2025 has finally hit the wall. The smart play now is to sink everything into 2026.
For Ferrari, it’s about boldness. For Mercedes, it’s about rebuilding belief in their own process. Either way, the gap isn’t closing this season. They’ll potentially pick up the occasional podium when track characteristics or tire temps break their way, but the days of consistent contention are gone until next season.
The Road Ahead
So where does that leave us? With 8 races to go and 200 winning points on the table, a title fight between Lando and Oscar that could stay civil — or combust spectacularly if someone decides being “the nice guy” isn’t worth it anymore and a renewed Max helping his team gel on the way to as many wins as he can steal. And two giants, Ferrari and Mercedes, staring down the uncomfortable truth that the next 6 months are just a holding pattern.
McLaren wants their championships without the drama, but here's hoping maybe Max can throw a spanner in the works in the meantime (never thought I'd have to say that!).
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