McLaren’s Oscar Piastri has argued the importance of being a works team in Formula 1 has diminished, saying “I don’t think you need to be a works team to win in F1.”
The 2024 campaign has seen four different teams take victory, Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren, with the latter being a Mercedes engine customer.
Despite this, McLaren has emerged as one of the strongest performers in 2024 and is enjoying a run of 10 straight podiums.
Before Mercedes turned things around in the final races ahead of the F1 summer break, McLaren enjoyed superiority over their engine supplier and still leads the Silver Arrows by 100 points in the Constructors’ standings.
Speaking ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Piastri led a McLaren one-two to claim his first GP win, the Australian said “I don’t think you need to be a works team to win an F1.
“I think there’s still definitely advantages of being a works team, whether that’s from developing the engine how you want it and fitting it into the car exactly how you want, stuff like that.
“There’s always going to be advantages as a works team, but I think now in the cost cap era of F1, I think it’s got much less significance than it did.
“So, yeah, I think you can be a customer team, so to speak, and, yeah, put up a really strong fight.”
McLaren’s “strong fight” sees the team sit second in the Constructors’ standings, 42 points back from Red Bull having outscored the championship leaders across the last four rounds of the campaign.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso joined Piastri in speaking on the matter of customer teams during the Thursday press conference at the Hungaroring.
While Piastri is enjoying a race-winning car with a customer engine, Alonso doesn’t have the same luxury.
At the start of the 2023 season, Aston Martin, which has a technical partnership with Mercedes, emerged as the second-fastest team with Alonso scoring six podiums in the first eight races.
Since then, the Silverstone-based squad has regressed and currently sits fifth in the Constructors’ standings amid the F1 summer break with a tally of 73 points, 39 ahead of RB and 193 behind Mercedes.
This downturn in form is likely why Alonso said “there’s still a lot of downsides to not being a works team.”
However, before that pessimistic phrasing, the Spaniard acknowledged that “Probably it is the case now with the budget cap,” that customer teams can contend for victories.
“I think the works team cannot get into an unlimited budget or test programme or things like that,” he added. “So everything is more regulated now.”
Alonso’s reservations will be mitigated somewhat in 2026, when Aston Martin becomes a Honda-powered works entry.
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