McLaren CEO Zak Brown has once again emphasized, in the run-up to the season finale in Abu Dhabi, that Lando Norris will not receive preferential treatment. In recent weeks, many fans have suggested that the Brit would be favored; Oscar Piastri would have been too often the victim of team orders and the infamous papaya rules. Even Australian politics got involved in the discussion, but according to Brown, the statements of the involved politicians are reprehensible.
Following the GP of Qatar, Australian Senator Matt Canavan played into rumors that Piastri would be disadvantaged by McLaren. During a meeting, he raised the issue with Secretary Jim Betts: “I don’t even know who exactly I should ask this, but you deal with transport and cars: do you think McLaren has something against Oscar Piastri and that it’s costing him the world title?” The clip went viral on social media and quickly reached Zak Brown as well.
“I think Oscar has often enough spoken out about fairness and equity,” he responded to Sky Sports in Abu Dhabi. “We make mistakes, but Oscar has been our main spokesperson in this. He has never said that something didn’t feel right. I saw what the Australian senator said and it was clear that he was very uneducated and knew nothing about our sport.”
Common Sense Approach
“At the same time, it’s also beautiful to see,” Brown continued. “People greatly support their national heroes. But the most important thing is that our team knows the facts. There are many uninformed people who hold their own opinions. It’s a full-time job to correct them all, but it is what it is.” McLaren has now confirmed that it will indeed use team orders to secure the title in Abu Dhabi. After all, Norris starts the finale with a lead of 12 points over Max Verstappen, while Piastri is 16 points behind.
“There’s no question of a turnaround,” Brown insisted. “We start the weekend as we have started the other 23 weekends: we give both drivers an equal chance. Last year, when it became clear that Lando had the best chance of overtaking Max, we asked Oscar to support him. But in that same race, Lando ended up having to support Oscar to secure the victory. We’re going to use our common sense again,” he concluded. “And we remain true to our principles.”
