Zak Brown addresses possible driver tension over McLaren upgrade disparity

Zak Brown said Oscar Piastri did not kick up a fuss about Lando Norris receiving car upgrades before he did.

Following a lacklustre start, McLaren rushed forward their upgrade plan and brought new parts to Austria, one race sooner than their original target date of Silverstone.

Such was the rush that the MTC team only had time to manufacture parts for one car and Norris was the grateful recipient.

His team-mate Piastri is still playing catch up with the Australian receiving Norris’ Austria spec while the Brit has further upgrades for his home race.

Other drivers may have been displeased about their lack of upgrades in comparison to their team-mates but Piastri has been a “team player” according to CEO Brown.

“It’s only one race, we originally had the upgrades for Silverstone and everyone back at the factory did a great job to be able to pull forward one set,” he said in response to a question asked by PlanetF1.com.

“Of course you can split them but then you have a parc ferme risk if you have any issues.

“Oscar is a team player. We communicated with him early on that it was one upgrade at a time so there’s no fixed rule there.

“Obviously just given Lando’s experience, it made sense to put it on the most experienced driver and Oscar now has what Lando had a week later so it’s all good.”

Piastri said something similar, suggesting it made sense that the more experienced driver gets the limited fresh parts.

PlanetF1.com recommends

Toto Wolff: ‘Mercedes not bragging about constant influx of Red Bull staff’

Exclusive: Yuki Tsunoda reveals Helmut Marko talks as he fights for F1 future

“In an ideal world, of course, it’d be great if we could have them together,” he told media including PlanetF1.com. “But I think the floor and upgrades I have this weekend was supposed to be for both cars this weekend.

“Whatever it is Lando potentially gets [for Silverstone] was supposed to be for Budapest so I think it’s just a reflection of the team pushing very, very hard to get anything done.

“I completely understand why Lando would get it over me given his experience with the team and positioning in the team. Of course, I’d love to have a direct comparison, but very understanding and why.”