Cameras captured the moment Oscar Piastri was left hanging by McLaren in parc ferme following the Qatar Grand Prix, forcing him to celebrate his second-place finish alone.
Acknowledged only by rival teams, the solo celebration paints a grim picture for the team heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
When the podium finishers pulled into parc ferme, McLaren was notably missing. Not a speck of papaya could be seen among the crowd gathered to intercept their driver before the routine post-race TV interviews.
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A lonely Oscar Piastri was visible in the background of Max Verstappen’s celebrations with his team. FOX Sports
An elated Max Verstappen celebrated his unforeseen win by executing a swan dive into the outstretched arms of roaring Red Bull team members.
Williams driver Carlos Sainz, after securing only his second podium with the team, also celebrated wildly as he was mobbed by his crew gathered behind the fence.
Piastri, however, appeared to be the only McLaren team member present for his own celebration — a stark contrast to the significance of his first podium since September’s Italian Grand Prix.
The footage has intensified ongoing accusations that McLaren is showing favouritism toward one of its drivers’ world championship bids.
The 24-year-old Piastri cut a dejected figure, briefly stopping at the fence before taking his gear off and circling back to congratulate Verstappen and Sainz.
It appeared there were a few McLaren mechanics on the fringe of the fence, but they quickly turned their attention to Piastri’s MCL39 once allowed to access the car.
Footage showed that while Piastri received congratulations from Williams and Red Bull team members, his own team was conspicuously absent.
McLaren was nowhere to be seen amidst the team celebrations in parc ferme after the Qatar Grand Prix. Kym Illman via Getty Images
The poor team support for Piastri was witnessed by an Australian F1 photographer and content creator, Kym Illman.
“He threw his gloves in anger and then went looking for his crew, but they weren’t there,” he said in a video posted to his YouTube channel.
“Why weren’t they there? Well, maybe a couple were, but certainly second [place] would normally warrant a number of your crew being there to help celebrate.
“Carlos Sainz had almost all of his side of the garage at parc ferme to meet him post-race. Of course, he doesn’t end up on the podium terribly often, so maybe that is a little bit out of the ordinary.
“I think it’s almost unforgivable to think that you don’t bring your crew down to celebrate with your driver”.
Sky Sports F1’s pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz offered insight into the McLaren team’s whereabouts.
Qatar was McLaren’s race to lose, and they did just that.
Despite dominating all weekend, with Piastri on pole and Norris alongside him on the front row, a misjudged strategy call spoiled the victory.
The team opted against pitting both drivers during an early safety car period, which was deployed after Pierre Gasly’s Alpine clipped Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber and sent him spinning off the track on lap seven.
As McLaren was the only team to keep both drivers out, the rest of the field capitalised on a cheap pit stop to switch to fresh tyres without losing significant track position.
The strategy error likely cost Piastri the win and deprived teammate Lando Norris of a potential second-place finish.
In the aftermath, the rumour mill suggested the decision was strategically made to avoid a double-stack situation, preventing championship leader Norris from getting stuck behind Piastri in the pits.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella and team supremo Zak Brown have both emphatically denied the scuttlebutt.
“At the end of these races, I normally get a line with Andrea Stella or Zak Brown quite quickly, normally at this moment,” Kravitz said on the broadcast.
“They are shell-shocked here at McLaren down here at McLaren. They don’t really know what to say.
“They’ve gone to the back of the garage, they said, ‘No interviews’ until after the podium.
“They need to go and understand, get their ducks in a row, talk about what they’re going to say, and manage to explain this all away.”
During the subsequent podium ceremony, the broadcast showed only two McLaren team members clapping.
The championship fight has reached its climax, and the title winner will be determined after 58 laps of action at the Yas Marina Circuit on Monday morning (AEDT).
Norris leads the standings with 408 points, followed closely by Verstappen (396) and Piastri (392).
The Melburnian faces the toughest challenge among the three contenders and must finish either first or second in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to have a mathematical chance of winning the 2025 drivers’ championship.