Papaya Rules Over Champion
Inside McLaren's team-first strategy call explained today
Jul 27, 2026 · 28 min · 14 segments
Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah review the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix, and how McLaren almost did NOT want a Lando Norris win.How did Norris pull off his first win as a Formula 1 World Champion, and why…
Kunal ShahHost
Soumil AroraHost
Because during the race, we were able to point out so many pressing questions, including what happened with the pit stop cycle.

Because papaya rules were in play, and Lando Norris could well have not won this race had it not been for Carlos Sainz or Oscar Piastri's gearbox failing itself.

So what we are talking about, guys, is Lando Norris behind Oscar Piastri, chasing him down, saying consistently, "I'm the quicker driver," trying to prove it with, uh, uh, you know, with consistently quicker lap times, was trying to get McLaren to box him first.

That approach still works, even more so in a season when they're not the favorites, they're not the most dominant team.

They were telling him where he could go quicker, but Piastri was not able to pick the pace.

Now, was he saving tires by himself because he thought he needed to, or was he genuinely not able to pick up the pace? My guess is that he couldn't pick up the pace even during his-

Then Norris went longer and at that time, when McLaren wanted to pit him, Lewis Hamilton came into his window.

So they said, "You know what? Let's just go longer." And what did Lamer- Hamilton do? Sorry, no.

And then voila, he just got track position on both those drivers, Hamilton and Oscar Piastri.

And nobody could say Lando didn't earn that win because of that raw pace that he showcased towards the end.

Because during the race, we were able to point out so many pressing questions, including what happened with the pit stop cycle.

Because papaya rules were in play, and Lando Norris could well have not won this race had it not been for Carlos Sainz or Oscar Piastri's gearbox failing itself.

So what we are talking about, guys, is Lando Norris behind Oscar Piastri, chasing him down, saying consistently, "I'm the quicker driver," trying to prove it with, uh, uh, you know, with consistently quicker lap times, was trying to get McLaren to box him first.

That approach still works, even more so in a season when they're not the favorites, they're not the most dominant team.

They were telling him where he could go quicker, but Piastri was not able to pick the pace.

Now, was he saving tires by himself because he thought he needed to, or was he genuinely not able to pick up the pace? My guess is that he couldn't pick up the pace even during his-

Then Norris went longer and at that time, when McLaren wanted to pit him, Lewis Hamilton came into his window.

So they said, "You know what? Let's just go longer." And what did Lamer- Hamilton do? Sorry, no.

And then voila, he just got track position on both those drivers, Hamilton and Oscar Piastri.

And nobody could say Lando didn't earn that win because of that raw pace that he showcased towards the end.
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Papaya Rules Over Champion
Inside McLaren's team-first strategy call explained today
Verstappen's Daring Flashback Pass
Reliving Verstappen's heart-stopping overtake on Hamilton today
Norris Goes Full Hammer Time
Watch Norris unleash relentless pace for victory
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