McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has heaped praise on the team’s new driver Oscar Piastri, as he secured his first points as a Formula 1 driver at his home grand prix around the Albert Park Circuit.
At the Australian Grand Prix, Piastri finished in eighth place, while his teammate Lando Norris came home in sixth, as the pair benefitted from a string of DNFs that saw eight cars retire from the race.
Following the performance, Brown has warned that Piastri will “be a match” for Norris, as the pair remain split by only four points in the Drivers’ Standings.
The comments risk angering Daniel Ricciardo fans who felt the CEO never supported him before he was dropped from the team last season, ultimately joining Red Bull as a reserve driver.
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Piastri stepped into Ricciardo’s seat after McLaren felt that the now-Red Bull driver was underperforming compared to his teammate.
While Piastri has had a tough start to his career at McLaren, he managed to avoid the chaos around the circuit to finish the race in the points scoring places.
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“It was great for Oscar to get points in his home race. The team did well, stayed out of trouble and sometimes you get luck your way and sometimes you don’t,” Brown said post-race.
“It’s early days but everything we’re seeing is he’s pretty much going to be a match for Lando — at least that’s our hope. I’m sure Oscar will be saying, ‘Actually, maybe Lando should be a match for me’.
“They’re definitely very close, you can see it on the overlays that there’s not much between the two and I think Oscar just needs a bit more experience to put it together on a lap-by-lap basis in the way Lando can,” he added.