Zak Brown revealed that Oscar Piastri displayed no signs of discontent when Lando Norris received car upgrades ahead of him.
After a rather underwhelming start, McLaren expedited their upgrade schedule and introduced new components to their car in Austria, a race earlier than originally planned for Silverstone.
The time constraints were such that the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) team could only manufacture parts for a single car, and Norris emerged as the fortunate beneficiary.
As Piastri, the teammate of Norris, continues to make strides to bridge the gap, it is worth noting that he received Norris’ Austria-spec car while the British driver obtained additional upgrades for his home race.
While some drivers might have expressed discontentment regarding the disparity in upgrades compared to their teammates, Piastri has exemplified the qualities of a true “team player,” as affirmed by McLaren 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.”
“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.”
In a rather disappointing turn of events, McLaren faced a subpar day during the second practice session, with Oscar Piastri outperforming his teammate and the team finishing 9th and 14th respectively.
Despite recent upgrades, there is room for improvement as the Woking-based team sets its sights on enhancing performance for the upcoming qualifying session.
