McLaren CEO Zak Brown Denies Ever Having a Hand in Decision To Poach Alpine’s Oscar Piastri

The Oscar Piastri contract saga has finally come to an end. After the ruling of the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board, Oscar Piastri will be a McLaren driver from 2023 onwards. However, McLaren CEO Zak Brown has shared insight on how they went about poaching the Australian from Alpine.

McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown has been at the forefront of ensuring that the team comes back to its winning ways. However, as it turns out, he leaves a crucial part of the job of being a Formula 1 team manager to his right-hand man, Andreas Seidl. According to the American, the decision to poach Piastri from Alpine was of Seidl’s rather than his own.

While speaking to RacingNews365, he said, “Andreas is the one that I ultimately lean on to come forward with what he wants as a driver lineup.”. He continued, “We both think very similar, I can’t give any decisions that we haven’t both agreed on, whether that’s driver or other performance related [decisions].”.

He then went on to talk about how it was Seidl’s idea to go behind Piastri. “It was Andreas who recruited him [Piastri] and had that relationship with Mark Webber [Piastri’s agent]”

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However, now that it is set in stone who Piastri will drive for next season, his new employers, McLaren, have set out what he needs to achieve for the team in 2023.

McLaren boss outlines his plans to manage F1 rookie Oscar Piastri in 2023

Oscar Piastri is now officially a McLaren driver. But being a McLaren driver will not be easy for the Australian. He comes into a team with a storied history of winning and a target to get back up there. Further, his own journey to F1 has been marred with the ousting of Daniel Ricciardo and his own tussle with Alpine.

However, McLaren boss Zak Brown has outlined exactly what needs to be done.

He said, “He’s a huge talent, so we just need to give him time.”

He then went on the explain why this is the case. “What we need to do is not put too much pressure on him, or get into comparisons; ‘He’s filling Daniel shoes [etc..]’ none of that stuff.”

“We just need to let him settle in and support him.”

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How do you think Oscar Piastri fare at McLaren? Will he be outperformed by Lando Norris or will the tables turn at the Woking-based team come 2023?