Max Verstappen found McLaren's preferential Lando treatment hilarious

Anybody else remember all the nonsense spewed by McLaren about not being worried about the intrateam rivalry between their two drivers boiling over?

Okay, maybe things haven't boiled over yet (though Lando Norris did his best to change that by running into Oscar Piastri in Montreal), but Sunday's Italian Grand Prix at Monza put a new twist on the "papaya rules" that supposedly no longer existed after they backfired on a number of occasions in 2024 (including at Monza).

Norris passed Piastri at the start of the race, and he held position throughout. As usual, his cheerleaders in the ever-biased Sky Sports booth complained when Max Verstappen held the lead at the start by going off the race track.

Norris, who has been historically easy for his rivals to rattle, focused more on calling Verstappen an idiot over the radio than he did actually holding onto the lead.

Verstappen, who ironically gave the place back without quarrel, quieted everyone rather quickly by retaking the lead shortly thereafter and driving off into the distance in a car that would statistically be 10th out of 10 in the constructor standings if anybody other than the Dutchman was driving it.

McLaren's late pit strategy gamble to try to beat Verstappen didn't pan out, and after Norris had a slow pit stop, Piastri came out ahead of him.

McLaren then told Piastri, who entered the race leading the two-driver world championship battle over Norris by 34 points, to relinquish the position.

Verstappen laughs as McLaren prioritize Norris

Piastri claimed that "slow pit stop" was not among the list of items that would have triggered these team orders, but he obliged anyway, and things stayed relatively civil afterward when Piastri and Norris spoke about it afterward, even though the former was clearly none too pleased about the ridiculousness of the call.

As for Verstappen, he had a good laugh about the fact that Norris was given preferential treatment over his world championship-leading teammate simply because the pit stops weren't identical.

"Ha! Just because he had a slow stop?" he said over the radio.

Thinking back to the Dutch Grand Prix, you have to wonder why Zak Brown didn't personally demand Piastri's engine expire just because Norris' did, a scenario which triggered a 25-point swing in the Australian's favor in the world championship.

We won't even bring up Norris' race-winning pit strategy from Hungary on a day (and weekend) Piastri was clearly the stronger of the two drivers.

One thing is clear, though. McLaren are doing everything they can possibly do to cheapen the value of what it means to win a world championship, regardless of who wins it, with their questionable methods and track placement/points manipulation.

This is not a knock on the drivers: it's actually a disservice, by the team, to whoever actually does manage to win it. What if the exact same scenario occurs in the season finale, and that six-point swing literally swings the world championship?

In honor of recent viral events in the United States, it is worth pointing out that Zak Brown is seeming more and more like the kind of guy to demand that Oscar Piastri hand over his home run ball and give it to Lando Norris.

Team orders are nothing new to Formula 1, but this really is comical, to the point where it's nowhere near befitting of the so-called "pinnacle of motorsport".

Give me the much-maligned NASCAR playoff format over whatever excuse for "racing" this is. It's hardly sport at this point.

In positive news, the 27-year-old Verstappen is now the all-time record holder for wins in a non-constructor championship-winning car.

His 32nd, which he secured with a 19-second victory on Sunday, broke the tie with Michael Schumacher. To put into proper perspective just how hard that number is to achieve, both Piastri and Norris have none.

Verstappen is third on the all-time wins list with 66.