Former Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has accused McLaren of slowing Oscar Piastri down by “various means” and of favouring team-mate Lando Norris.
The Woking-based squad’s duo have been the main two protagonists for much of this season, amid its insistence on maintaining fairness between both men.
Norris and Piastri have come together on a few occasions this season, which has seen the team, led by Andrea Stella, to frequently reiterate its equal division of the so-called ‘papaya rules’.
Recently, Piastri’s commanding lead has eroded away, and Norris’ victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix saw him take the lead of the championship race by one point.
The Australian has been seen as the driver who has made the most of the MCL39 package, but Norris has recently been able to extract far more, seeing him provide a sterner challenge.
And in an interview with RTL and sport.de, Ecclestone was asked whether Piastri had been disadvantaged in recent races, having not won a race since Zandvoort in August.
‘Yes, it looks that way,” he said. “McLaren prefers Norris in the second half of the season.”
Ecclestone recognised that Piastri had been “clearly faster” for the first three quarters of the campaign, but, without any exact examples, said the team had “slowed the Australian down more often using various means.”
“McLaren favours the English driver Norris,” he added. “He has more star and marketing qualities for them, has more camera presence and publicity.
“That’s probably why it’s better for McLaren.”
Ecclestone stated that “Piastri is upset and tired by this, and that the discussions about it annoy him.
“The pressure is mounting, and Piastri is frustrated that he can no longer win races so easily and that Norris is obviously favoured within the team.”
Ecclestone thinks Verstappen ‘will do it again’
Since the Italian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has re-entered the fray and got himself firmly back into title contention with a 100 per cent podium streak in six races, half of which have been wins.
The Dutchman looked down and out, and seemingly set to relinquish his crown, but his recent form has seen him, although on the outside, have a more realistic chance of retaining the title.
Ecclestone believes that the Red Bull driver will once prevail, saying “I think Max will win and do it again! He has that special something, that extraordinary quality.
“And the next race is in Brazil, where the weather is changeable, with rain too. Verstappen will do well there,” said Ecclestone, looking ahead to the upcoming Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.
Whilst acknowledging both Norris and Piastri are “good” with a “superb” car, Ecclestone affirmed that “Verstappen is the special one, the best racer, not a politician, but a real racing driver.”
Ecclestone criticises Ferrari-Hamilton union
Ecclestone also spoke on the new union between Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari, which has so far been a difficult one.
Hamilton has yet to win a race – the Shanghai Sprint excepted – or get onto the podium, and Ecclestone said that the seven-time World Champion has been shocked by his inability to win for his new squad.
“Everything is slipping away from him there,” he said. “He wanted to become World Champion there and is now surprised that he can’t do it,’ adding that Hamilton is “one of the best of the last ten years, but not the best.”
Ecclestone continued that the union is “a financial marketing project”, and that “he’ll be doing more with fashion in the future”.
Ferrari has not seen a World Championship from a driver since 2007, at the tail end of its hugely successful period of the early millennium, spearheaded by Jean Todt on the pit wall, and Michael Schumacher in the car.
Ecclestone believes that current Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur is not equipped to run such a monumental team.
“The problem is that Ferrari needs a dictator at the top to be successful. They don’t speak Italian there, they speak ‘Ferrarian’,” he commented.
“Everyone in Italy has a say and interferes in what is right and wrong,” adding that Vasseur is “too weak” and simply “not a dictator”.
READ MORE – The positive McLaren sees to recent Oscar Piastri F1 struggles
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