It’s been the question on everyone’s lips all season – have the British McLaren really been favouring their British driver Lando Norris over Australian ace Oscar Piastri (who has led the standings for longer than any other racer this campaign), or has it just been the perception?
Surely we can rely on the… checks notes… British Sky Sports F1 coverage for an accurate answer.
The awkwardness of the pre-race media commitments together on the biggest day of their careers: Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.Credit: Getty Images
Former racer Martin Brundle: “I think this is what’s paining McLaren at the moment – with the disqualification in Vegas, and the pit-stop misjudgment in Qatar, they should be here [in Abu Dhabi] celebrating with a world champion already, and they know that. They’re under huge pressure at McLaren to make sure they put that right today.
“Remember, he’s [Lando has] been there since 2017 when McLaren were last and nowhere. He was like, ‘I’m staying here – I believe in this team’, so I think he’s got some currency from that. I think the team have tried to be super, super fair – almost put an engineering solution to a human issue – and they’ve tripped over themselves quite a few times this year doing that. They’ve got two bulls in one field, and they want to run it like that. That’s why they’ve got 800 points in the constructors’ championship and their nearest rival is late 400 points. Something’s working, but whatever they’ve done, the perception, which is more important than reality probably, is that they favour Lando.”
Former world champion Nico Rosberg: “I’ll agree with Martin. Lando, at the moment, is the most popular driver in the sport, and I think internally, also, he’ll be very popular. That is one side, but I think factually, then, I believe McLaren really tries to treat their drivers absolutely equally and give them both the best possibilities… it’s just that McLaren didn’t get it quite right at times and that didn’t look too good from the outside.”
You can say that again, Nico.
