"I was a bit surprised"- McLaren chief on 'inappropriate' comments from other F1 teams over Oscar Piastri fiasco

McLaren boss Zak Brown said that he was surprised to hear comments from other team principals about the Oscar Piastri fiasco. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had expressed concern in the way Piastri left for McLaren despite being part of the Alpine junior academy.

The Piastri saga was one of the stories of the summer. Alpine had announced Piastri as their driver for next season, only for the Australian to refute the same amidst reports of his links with McLaren. The matter went to F1's Contract Resolution Board (CRB), which ruled that McLaren had a valid contract with the driver for next season. McLaren subsequently made an official announcement.

Brown termed the comments about the Piastri saga from other bosses as 'inappropriate', as they didn't have knowledge of the complete details. He said:

“From my side, I think I was a bit surprised about some of the comments I’ve read from people that had no detailed knowledge of what was actually happening. And I think some of these comments were therefore also inappropriate and not fair. And just not respecting what was happening."

Brown continued:

“If I just look at myself in such a situation, if I only know what happened from one side, I try to stay away from making comments on it. And I think that’s also important to mention in order to protect Oscar.”

Wolff had said that teams would need to have stricter contracts to ensure that there's no recurrence of the Piastri incident. He said:

“What I really stand firm for is all of us constructors are investing a lot of money in our junior programmes. We invest human resources that go to the go-kart tracks, to the junior formulas, and in some cases it’s little money, in some cases it’s more."

He continued:

"George Russell and Esteban Ocon, we financed them a long way on. To know now a precedent has been set that if you are clever you can manoeuvre yourself out is something that’s clearly not good for the industry. So we will employ even more lawyers for even stricter contracts.”

Meanwhile, Piastri has signed a two-year deal with McLaren, while Alpine are yet to announce their driver lineup for next season.

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"If you don’t have a contract, you’re vulnerable" - McLaren

Toto Wolff touched on the 'integrity' remark Alpine boss Otmar Szafneur had said during Alpine's battle with McLaren for Piastri. The Mercedes boss said that it's something for the team to keep in mind for the future. He said:

“For me, I believe in the integrity also of the drivers we have," said Wolff. "I think we need to be positive, to try and find talent and develop them, but hope on the character. Contracts are the underlying fundamentals of any professional commercial dealings with each other, that’s clear."

He continued:

"But in this world, you will probably be able to spot the gaps, or opportunities, in every contract. And then it’s up to the judges to determine what the outcome is. I think I’ve made many mistakes in my life when I thought a contract covered all angles, and it didn’t."

Zak Brown did not share those concerns, though. He said that Alpine lost out on Piastri, as they did not have a valid contract with the driver.

“I don’t think this changes anything,' said Brown. "I just think if you have a driver and you’re stable, you need to have a contract with them. It’s very competitive, as we know, and all teams are always looking around to get the best talent they can, and if you don’t have a contract then you’re vulnerable.”

Piastri will now drive for McLaren alongside Lando Norris next season.