Zak Brown stated that Oscar Piastri did not raise any objections when Lando Norris received car upgrades before him. McLaren expedited their upgrade plan due to a lacklustre start, bringing new parts to Austria one race earlier than initially planned for Silverstone.
The rush to implement the upgrades resulted in the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) team having enough time to manufacture parts for only one car, which Norris received. Piastri, being Norris’ teammate, is still in the process of catching up, as he received the Austria-spec upgrades while Norris obtained further upgrades for his home race.
While some drivers might have been unhappy about the discrepancy in upgrades compared to their teammates, Piastri has demonstrated himself to be a “team player” according to CEO Brown. When pressed about the situation, Brown acknowledged that they had originally planned to introduce the upgrades at Silverstone, but the team managed to bring them forward for one race.
Brown emphasized that they could have split the upgrades between the two drivers, but that would have posed a parc ferme risk if any issues arose. He highlighted Piastri’s cooperative attitude, stating that they had communicated with him early on about the plan to introduce upgrades one at a time, without a fixed rule dictating the order. Given Norris’ experience, it made sense to prioritize him, and Piastri would receive the same upgrades a week later.
Piastri echoed similar sentiments, stating that it was logical for the more experienced driver to receive the limited fresh parts
