Dec.8 (GMM) Oscar Piastri’s father Chris has dismissed swirling paddock theories that McLaren engineered the outcome of the 2025 title fight in favour of Lando Norris.
In Switzerland, Blick even splashed Norris’ triumph under the headline: “McLaren has its desired champion.”
Rumours have persisted for weeks that Piastri and manager Mark Webber had become frustrated and were sounding out alternatives – speculation intensified by several strategic flashpoints later in the season.
Zak Brown insists there is no issue, saying Piastri will have “no problem at all” with Norris wearing the number 1 for 2026.
“Piastri is a future world champion,” said Brown. “Both of our drivers have won seven races, performed brilliantly, and supported each other.
“It’s a tough sport – sometimes things go as you plan, sometimes they don’t. I’m looking forward to next season with these two drivers.”
Piastri’s father echoed that sentiment, telling Code Sports he sees no conspiracy.
“There’s absolutely nothing behind the scenes there. I don’t think there’s anything I would put my finger on,” he said.
“If there was something there then the best way to fight it is just win the races and put it beyond doubt, so that if there is any little conscious or unconscious bias within the team that it doesn’t matter.”
He said Oscar himself will not be waking up today feeling wronged.
“He certainly won’t buy into any angle that somehow he was robbed by the team of the championship. I don’t think that’s true anyway,” Chris added.
Despite Norris winning the title, many believe Verstappen was obviously the standout performer of 2025. Norris brushed off those debates entirely.
“This is all for you guys to decide,” he told reporters. “All I try and do every weekend is the best I can. You decide he’s better than him, or someone’s got a worse car. Write what you like. Do I believe Max is unbeatable? No. But you also don’t know, do you?”
McLaren boss Andrea Stella also defended Piastri’s season.
“The gap between Lando and Oscar this year was mostly very small,” he said. “Today we have a world champion Norris – I hope we will have a world champion Piastri in the coming years.”
Piastri, too, insists Norris running the number 1 next year won’t faze him.
“He’s still Lando Norris. It’s not like he’s become Superman,” he smiled.
“I’m expecting full fairness from the team and equality going forward. I don’t have any concerns.”
Still, he acknowledged some frustration with certain calls during the year.
“We’ve had a lot of discussions through the season, and I’m sure we’ll have discussions in the off-season about anything we want to do differently next year,” he said.
“But the team gave us both as good a chance as they could to fairly fight for a world championship, and that’s all you can ask for.”