Red Bull boss mocks McLaren after Japanese Grand Prix as 'papaya' comment made

Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko took aim at McLaren after the Japanese Grand Prix.

After producing a stunning qualifying lap on Saturday, Max Verstappen dominated the Grand Prix on Sunday to win at the world-famous Suzuka Circuit.

The Dutchman came home more than 1.4 seconds ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, putting an end to McLaren's winning start to the 2025 campaign.

It ended up being a day of 'what ifs' for the papaya team as they struggled to get close to Verstappen despite having the better car.

Reflecting on the race, Red Bull chief Marko appeared to aim a thinly-veiled dig at McLaren over their strategy.

As reported by Racing News 365, Marko told De Telegraaf: "The strategy they choose is up to them. It seemed that Oscar (Piastri) was the faster one.

"Whether he could have overtaken Max then? That's a different story on this circuit anyway. But maybe this is another version of McLaren's papaya rules..."

Max Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Image: Getty

'Papaya Rules' was a hot topic during the 2024 season as McLaren allowed their drivers to race despite Norris being the closest challenger to Verstappen.

When asked to explain what the rules meant, team boss Zak Brown said: "Papaya rules are it’s your team mate; race him hard, race him clean, don’t touch, that happened. It was an aggressive pass so that’s a conversation we’ll have, that was a bit nerve wracking on pit wall but it’s really just respect your team mate."

Red Bull team boss and CEO Christian Horner also had a say on McLaren's decisions in Japan, he said: "I guess the problem they have is they have two drivers that are fighting for the Drivers Championship. I guess the difficulty they have is that they’ve made a bed where they’re going to let them race. So that’s the compromise that inevitably comes with it.

"The undercut was reasonably powerful. I mean, as could have, should have, would have, I’m sure up and down the pit lane."

After tasting victory in Japan, Verstappen is only one point behind Norris in the drivers' standings.

This weekend, F1 will return with the fourth race of the season, the Bahrain Grand Prix.