Zak Brown has dismissed claims of McLaren bias against Oscar Piastri as \u201cridiculous\u201d after the debate escalated beyond the paddock and into Australian politics.<\/p>\n
McLaren secured a drivers\u2019 and constructors\u2019 title double for the first time since 1998 last season, with Lando Norris becoming the team\u2019s first world champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.<\/p>\n
Zak Brown critical of Australian politicians over Oscar Piastri \u2018bias\u2019 claims<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n Piastri held a 34-point lead following Norris\u2019s retirement at the Dutch Grand Prix last August.<\/p>\n However, that race proved to be Piastri\u2019s final victory of 2025 with the Melbourne-born driver scoring just three podium finishes across the final nine races.<\/p>\n He eventually finished third in the standings, behind Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, as Norris secured a maiden world championship.<\/p>\n Zak Brown: Meet the man who brought McLaren back to the fore<\/p>\n Zak Brown car collection: The legendary machines owned by the McLaren boss<\/a><\/p>\n Why Zak Brown deserves more credit for McLaren title glory<\/a><\/p>\n As reported by PlanetF1.com<\/a>, a perception grew in Australia over the course of 2025 that McLaren was biased against Piastri.<\/p>\n The debate even reached the floors of Parliament with one politician posing the question that \u201cMcLaren is biased against Oscar Piastri and costing him the world championship.\u201d<\/p>\n Another agreed with the suggestion, adding that Piastri had \u201cdefinitely copped some raw decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to PlanetF1.com and other media outlets on Monday, Brown insisted that McLaren operates with a policy of \u201ctotal sporting fairness\u201d and dismissed the claims of bias as \u201cvery uninformed.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if he anticipates a hostile reception at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix next month, Brown said: \u201cI think fans \u2013 put aside countries \u2013 all have various opinions in sport.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can be frustrating when some people \u2013 and again, this isn\u2019t country specific \u2013 are very uninformed and the statements you see are just ridiculous.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I don\u2019t think that\u2019s territory specific.<\/p>\n \u201cI think, as Oscar has communicated many times, he knows he\u2019s getting a fair shake at it. You win some you lose some. Things fall your way, things don\u2019t fall your way.<\/p>\n \u201cWe lost Oscar some points, we lost Lando a lot of points in Holland, etcetera.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we just need to keep our head down, stay focused and the people that matter most to us know that we bring total sporting fairness to our racing team, our papaya fans and our sponsors, family and friends.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a shame that people in parliament, who I would say are pretty far removed from understanding Formula 1, vocalise things like that.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t dare, because I\u2019m not knowledgeable, comment on the job they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I bet I can make some comments.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown\u2019s comments cut against the grain in Australia, where local fans feel Piastri was hard done by.<\/p>\n It even prompted comedian Dave Hughes to make an expletive-laden rant on social media in response to similar comments made by Brown last year.<\/p>\n \u201cOoh Zak Brown you need to need the shut the f*** up,\u201d Hughes began.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Australians are uneducated if they think we favoured Norris over Piastri\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cAre we mate? Here\u2019s one example. What about in Italy? Slow pit stop for Lando, \u2018Oscar we need to swap spots because Lando had a slow pit stop, it\u2019s only fair\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cIs it? No one in the world thought that was f***ing fair mate. Lando got an extra three points that day because of that swap.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did he win the world title by? I\u2019ll tell you Zak. Two f***ing points, mate. That\u2019s one example. Six more under this video. Couldn\u2019t find any that went the other way.<\/p>\n \u201cShut the f*** up, Zak. Enjoy your f***ing victory mate, but shut the f*** up.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking at the final race of last season in Abu Dhabi, Piastri said it was \u201cquite impressive\u201d to see his name mentioned in Parliament in Australia regardless of the reason behind it.<\/p>\n He told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets at the last race of 2025: \u201cI did see it reach Parliament. That\u2019s quite impressive.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the support from back home has been really special. I obviously don\u2019t see a huge amount of it.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve not being back to Australia since the grand prix [in Melbourne in March 2025], but I think the fact that Formula 1 and my name \u2013 regardless of why \u2013 was in Parliament in Australia is pretty cool in some ways.<\/p>\n \u201cA pretty cool thing and I guess it signifies the magnitude of the support and the following that we\u2019ve had back home.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s very, very cool to see.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n