Zak Brown dropped a foul-mouthed joke at Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at a McLaren end-of-season party, partly taking aim at the former’s ex-Formula 1 employer, Alpine.
The Woking-based squad celebrated a successful season at the event, in which it captured both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships for the first time since 1998.
It successfully retained the former at the Singapore Grand Prix, the first time it did so since 1991, with Norris taking his first Drivers’ title in the nail-biting final round in Abu Dhabi.
Piastri was third, having led the title by 34 points in August, but managed to win more Grands Prix in a single year than any other Australian driver in the sport’s history.
Brown has overseen Norris’ rise from its junior ranks to the full F1 team in 2019, and also sprung Piastri from Alpine, the Australian’s tenure with the team ending on an acrimonious note.
Both these facts led to the American launching a jaw-dropping but humorous moment to both drivers upon a stage in front of an assembled audience of McLaren employees.
“We took big risks on both of you, and don’t pretend you had better options,” Brown started by saying.
Pointing at Piastri, Brown continued: “You had f***ing Alpine,” and then pointed at Norris, saying: “And you had to be faster than Stoffel Vandoorne.”
Brown was referencing Norris’ effectively replacing Vandoorne for 2019, the Belgian enduring a tough time amid an uncompetitive period for McLaren, which had just begun a new engine partnership with Renault.
Despite the largely uncompetitive package – which saw McLaren finish sixth, behind Haas, in the Constructors’ table – Vandoorne was able to score three points finishes in the first four races.
He moved on to Formula E soon afterwards, becoming World Champion with Mercedes in 2022.
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