McLaren propaganda over Piastri’s petulance at the Singapore GP – The problem with much of the ‘official’ Formula One media is that they are in effect mouthpieces for the team’s propaganda messages. Wishing to curry favour with the great and good in the paddock sources like motorsport.com and ‘TheRace’ regularly run articles which support a hidden agenda.
In Singapore Oscar Piastri was particularly irritated by the fact the team refused to instruct Lando Norris to hand back the place he gained on his team mate on lap 1 turn 3 by some “brave” manoeuvres as Jenson Button described them.
Piastri made a mistake at the start believing he could find away around the outside of Max Verstappen starting ahead of him which opened the door for his team mate to make a move up the inside. As the cars switched from the left hander of turn one to the right hander of turn two, Piastri failed to following the racing line of Verstappen ahead and moved to block his team mate from the apex of turn 3.
Piastri moans over Norris overtake
Yet Lando was alongside at this point, but dawdling Verstappen who was ensuring he could not be overtaken caught the British driver by surprise. He touched the back of the Red Bull ahead and with his steering lock turned to the left, bounced across the track and collided with his team mate.
The stewards decided there was nothing to see in the incident as is regularly the case when so many cars on together on a very small piece of asphalt. Piastri came on team radio complaining of Norris move: “Yeah, I mean, that wasn’t very team-like, but sure,” he said.
There was silence from his race engineer which appeared to incense Piastri further who pressed the matter moments later posing the question: “So, are we cool with Lando just barging me out of the way? What’s the go there?” Again there was no response from Tom Stallard who was clearly dealing with an internal debate over the significance of the matter.
It was several laps later when the race stewards delivered their verdict of “no further action” over the incident which Stallard relayed to his driver. In addition he informed Piastri, “As a team, we see Lando had to avoid Verstappen, so we won’t take any action during the race. We can review further afterwards.”
Oscar absent fron post race celebations
Piastri replied: “Mate, that’s not fair, that’s not fair.” Stallard again sought to calm down his driver replying, “We’ll have the opportunity to review afterwards, just focus on the race.” Piastri was clearly not satisfied with this resolution and continued to press his case on team radio.
“Mate, that is not fair. I’m sorry, that’s not fair,” Piastri said in response to the news. If he has to avoid another car by crashing into his teammate, then that’s a pretty shit job of avoiding.” There were no further communications on the matter as Piastri began to lose ground to Norris resulting at one point with an eight second gap between the McLaren duo.
Post race there were celebrations for McLaren winning back to back constructor titles, the first time since 1991. The entire team gathered for the podium ceremony, but one person was conspicuous by their absence and it was Oscar Piastri. An article in The Race today claims Piastri was merely fulfilling his media duties in the pen, yet the smell of petulance hangs over this decision.
Further, during the cool down lap, McLaren CEO came on the radio to congratulate Piastri for his part in winning the constructor championships. The broadcast reveals half way through this message Oscar turned off his radio.
Piastri switches off radio
“Oscar back to back champions. Good race, tough race. Thank you for….” And the on board feed showed the radio was then killed before Brown could complete his message. Veteran F1 writer, John Noble has penned a piece today which neatly explains Piastri’s petulance all wrapped up in a pink ribbon.
To the team radio message from Brown, Noble claims it was an unfortunate matter of timing. He writes for The Race that having returned to the pits “he duly shut down the car so his own communication systems stopped work – meaning the radio in his ears was no longer operative.”
Yet these messages are usually prepared and sent to the driver just after they’ve taken the chequered flag. The cool down lap in Singapore is over two minutes long and its unbelievable Zak Brown waited this long to speak with this driver.
Albon bins off media duties for the team
To the absence of Piastri from the podium celebrations where after the first three drivers had received their awards, the McLaren team was invited up to celebrate their team trophy. We have to rewind just one race to Azerbaijan, when Carlos Sainz claimed Williams first podium in six years, to see Alex Albon abandon his media duties to be there as the entire Williams team went crazy at the champagne ceremony.
This was a driver whose first thought was for the team, rather than his own miserable race in Baku. The fans too are not deceived by Piastri’s miserable response to being bested by his team mate, with many taking to social media suggesting his radio messages were those of a “cry baby.”
In response to Noble’s article subscribers to The Race were conflicted. Many believe Piastri should shun the ridiculous “papaya rules” which govern their racing. That said there were many who believe Piastri is done with McLaren’s manipulation of their drivers o track, with HHski stating: “I guess that Papaya rules don’t include all for one one for all rules. If I were Zak Brown and my leader of the WDC is doing pressers I am personally going to drag Oscar back purely for optics. Maybe they radioed Oscar to see if he was OK with missing the first photo.”
McLaren ‘fair game policy’ simply ridiculous
McLaren in their attempt to be persistently super fair to their drivers have taken interference with on track racing to a new level. Mercedes and Toto Wolff lost control of the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, but the sport and fans were invigorated by the drama it created week in and out.
Piastri has shown his true competitive colours by being irritated by the team’s previous race interventions in Norris favour and his absence at the celebrations of a 35 year old trophy drought is significant. Yet fans are fine with that. Its McLaren and their ridiculous micro management of the racing rules their drivers suffer who need to grow up and recognise Formula One is a highly competitive sport.
Senna would be turning in his grave at the shenanigans McLaren are attempting in driver control. Let them race – yes – but also let them crash into each other if in the moment its do or die. And at the end of the season, one McLaren driver will be devastated and blame the team for their interference, whilst the other will be elated with their rookie F1 title.
Brundle reports from Horner talks
Christian Horner, once synonymous with Red Bull’s dominance, appears to be making the most of his unexpected sabbatical from Formula 1 by plotting a comeback. There is still a buzz of speculation around the paddock that the ousted Red Bull boss isn’t done with the sport that defined his career. According to Martin Brundle, the ever-observant voice of Sky Sports, Horner’s conversations suggest that he is not just messing around. He’s looking for a way back in, on his own terms.
Brundle, who recently caught up with Horner, shared a few intriguing snippets from their conversation. Apparently, the 51-year-old Brit isn’t the type to settle for a desk job. Since being shown the Red Bull exit earlier this year, Horner has reportedly been exploring various options, such as founding his own team, joining an existing one or creating something entirely new, in true Horner fashion. Talks with Haas and Aston Martin have been mentioned, though nothing seems to have progressed beyond polite conversations and mutual curiosity….. READ MORE
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