McLaren CEO Zak Brown has taken aim at an Australian politician for what he called “uneducated” remarks about Oscar Piastri amid the conclusion of the Formula 1 title.
Senator Matt Canavan commented after the Qatar Grand Prix, in which Piastri was denied victory after a strategic error by the team, leaving Max Verstappen to take the win.
The result left Piastri four points short of Verstappen, and 16 behind title-leader Lando Norris going into the all-important finale in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Canavan asked whether McLaren was “biased” against Piastri, and was “costing him” the World Championship in a Senate Rural, Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee.
The comments were taken exception to by Brown, who questioned the Senator’s knowledge of the sport ahead of the race at the Yas Marina Circuit.
“We have done the best we can,” he told Sky Sports F1. “Oscar himself has talked about how fair and equitable [we have been].
“We make mistakes but Oscar has been our number one spokesperson. He’s never said a single word that anything has ever not felt right.
“I saw what the senator said. Clearly he’s very uninformed and uneducated about our sport.”
It has been a tricky final third of the season for Piastri, who has failed to win a Grand Prix since the Dutch Grand Prix in August.
After leaving Zandvoort, Piastri was 34 points ahead of Norris, with Verstappen so far behind that it appeared that the Dutchman was racing for little more than pride.
But a resurgence in form from both Verstappen and Norris has seen Piastri’s lead lost, leaving him the outsider going into Sunday’s race.
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