Formula 1 Discussion - And favourite driver?

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skunt said:
i didn't like lando at all but after listening to a bunch of piastri ballwashers and zak brown conspiracy theorists i wouldn't mind him winning at all. would prefer max though.
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I rather Piastri or Max win it. Because if Norris gets the championship, we're going to get another whole year of Brits AND Lando's Fangirls being fucking insufferable.
 

>McLaren insiders spill on ‘bias against’ Oscar Piastri in Formula One championship fight against Lando Norris

>It's no wonder then that McLaren have now banned Oscar Piastri from holding separate interviews with Australian media, before the biggest race of his life, claiming he's just too busy to speak with his country hacks.

>One veteran UK reporter told this masthead Piastri's mistreatment was the worst he'd ever seen towards a top driver.

>Another insider, speaking confidentiality because they fear they could be sacked for speaking out, said they had never witnessed a potential world champion undermined so openly by their own team.

>Yet another insider, also fearful of repercussions, said: "It's disgusting to see what's happening. It's like he's fighting with one arm tied behind his back.

>"He's constantly being undermined by the team. The bias against Piastri is unquestionable"
 
CEO of Autism said:

>McLaren insiders spill on ‘bias against’ Oscar Piastri in Formula One championship fight against Lando Norris

>It's no wonder then that McLaren have now banned Oscar Piastri from holding separate interviews with Australian media, before the biggest race of his life, claiming he's just too busy to speak with his country hacks.

>One veteran UK reporter told this masthead Piastri's mistreatment was the worst he'd ever seen towards a top driver.

>Another insider, speaking confidentiality because they fear they could be sacked for speaking out, said they had never witnessed a potential world champion undermined so openly by their own team.

>Yet another insider, also fearful of repercussions, said: "It's disgusting to see what's happening. It's like he's fighting with one arm tied behind his back.

>"He's constantly being undermined by the team. The bias against Piastri is unquestionable"
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Here's the archive to bypass the abbo paywall.

I'm not familiar with The Austrailian but Grok says they're trustworthy when it comes to non-political sports journalism.

McLaren insiders spill on ‘bias against’ Oscar Piastri in Formula One championship fight against Lando Norris​

Oscar Piastri is fighting for a Formula One world title with ‘one-arm tied behind his back’ as McLaren insiders spill on the bias cruelling the Australian’s campaign.
Julian Linden

2 min read
December 4, 2025 - 9:02AM

The wheels on McLaren’s cars aren’t the only thing spinning a little faster ahead of this weekend’s championship-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The British Formula One team’s ‘spin doctors’ are also going into overdrive, desperately trying to fend off complaints they are openly favouring Lando Norris over Australia’s Oscar Piastri.
All year long, McLaren have insisted that both their drivers get treated equally but the Australian public don’t believe a word of it any more because the genie’s now escaped from the bottle.
They’ve already suspected seeing Piastri get shafted time and time again over the season but last weekend’s screw up that cost Piastri victory at the Qatar Grand Prix was the last straw.
Just days out from the final race of the season, the only conversation in the F1 paddock is the deepening divide within the constructors champions.
McLaren’s leaders keep insisting all is well, but it’s now an open secret that is no longer the case and the atmosphere is now bordering on being toxic.
The most glaring example was at last weekend’s podium presentation after Piastri finished second and Norris fourth.

While normally there are dozens of McLaren crew in attendance to help the drivers celebrate, only two showed up. And if McLaren thought no-one would notice, they were wrong.
Piastri certainly noticed. And so did his supporters. Behind closed doors, words were had.
McLaren’s chief executive Zak Brown tried to make amends by interrupting an interview Piastri was conducting with a television network but was called out on social media for a ‘publicity stunt.’

Too polite to say what everyone else is already thinking, Piastri’s patience with McLaren is starting to wear thin. After the debacle in Qatar, he told his engineers he was ‘speechless’ even though he clearly looks like a man ready to spill the beans on what’s really been happening.
It’s no wonder then that McLaren have now banned Oscar Piastri from holding separate interviews with Australian media, before the biggest race of his life, claiming he’s just too busy to speak with his country hacks.

Yet, McLaren regularly allow Piastri to be grilled by the Pommie media while Norris holds exclusive meet and greets with English before every race.
One veteran UK reporter told this masthead Piastri’s mistreatment was the worst he’d ever seen towards a top driver.

Another insider, speaking confidentiality because they fear they could be sacked for speaking out, said they had never witnessed a potential world champion undermined so openly by their own team.
Yet another insider, also fearful of repercussions, said: “It’s disgusting to see what’s happening. It’s like he’s fighting with one arm tied behind his back.
“He’s constantly being undermined by the team. The bias against Piastri is unquestionable,”
On Wednesday, both Piastri and Norris attended a sponsor’s function to show off the team’s new livery for Abu Dhabi at the Hilton Hotel in Yas Marina Bay, where both drivers are staying.
While guests were treated to fresh seafood and Wagyu beef washed down with orange-coloured cocktails containing Aperol, vodka and pineapple juice, Piastri and Norris only appeared briefly on stage, making just a few comments before they were shocked away.
They got away this time but will have to answer questions on Thursday at the official drivers’ conference before the race.
 
Coccxys said:
Hill both won it, sometimes a meh driver gets it.
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pfff good joke. If Schumacher didn't fucking twat into Hill at Adelaide 1994, not a single tard would cry how shitty Hill was.

1995 Hill was a fucking disaster, I don't know if it's mixing antidepressants with whisky or some shit, but he's still above Keke Rosberg and obviously, fucking Villeneuve. It takes effort to almost win in a trash can with wheels called Arrows, after all.
 
ForTheHoard said:
I'm not familiar with The Austrailian but Grok says they're trustworthy when it comes to non-political sports journalism.
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I'd trust The Australian over Speedcafe, which is Australia's equivalent to The Race (which means they fellate Pastry just as enthusiastically as The Race fellates Nando, Hambone et al).
 
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the calm before the storm
 
So is it just tradition for McLaren to make inter team rivalries that either costs them titles or goodwill? I doubt after 2026 Pastry is going to stay as he's better than Norris and only his lack of experience has done him. I hope he gets a better deal next season and finds a team that will have his back when a title is on the line.
 
Kyria the Great said:
So is it just tradition for McLaren to make inter team rivalries that either costs them titles or goodwill?
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I just can't believe this happened to the same team more than one time. Common sense tells me they should've learned their lesson the first time it happened. I don't know if the team management is just useless, or if they think what they've been doing is actually okay. It just boggles my mind.

You can definitely tell that team cohesion is inexistent.
 
Kyria the Great said:
So is it just tradition for McLaren to make inter team rivalries that either costs them titles or goodwill? I doubt after 2026 Pastry is going to stay as he's better than Norris and only his lack of experience has done him. I hope he gets a better deal next season and finds a team that will have his back when a title is on the line.
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Seems like the only way to do that is go to a B-tier team or lower. There's so much backstabbing at the top that it seems like no one not named "Verstappen" or "Norris" can count on your team having your back.

Sainz had the right idea heading to Williams (I think he had less of a choice than he lets on, though; I suspect it was very much a Hail Mary for both him and James Vowels that it didn't end up like Bottas at Kick Sauber). Seems like a team that wants to return to greatness will care more about the talent they can grow rather than the talent they can buy. Granted, it's not like they had the money to spend, but it's rather clever to snap up a guy that had access to Ferrari-level engineering and was nerd enough to bring the details to someone who didn't have those resources.

Is that Piastri's only move? Not if he's savvy and if there's a sea change among the top-tier teams, but where is he going to go? Red Bull only cares about Max and will until he fucks off. Mercedes has the same problem, except that Toto hasn't figured out that Max's brash give-no-fucks style doesn't fit in with the image of style that Mercedes wants to project (Max was practically born to be a Red Bull driver). Ferrari? Until they have a winning season, I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them, especially if Leclerc is talking about going to Aston Martin, which, are they going to favor Leclerc if he jumps ship to them?

Maybe there will be another team that shakes out a more interesting prospect at the end of next year, but we'll only know that a year from now, and even then, let's not pretend that Audi or Cadillac are going to move any needles in a significant way if their 2026 is going to be regarded like Williams in 2025. And even then, Cadillac will probably favor American drivers.

NoxTuk said:
You can definitely tell that team cohesion is inexistent.
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McLaren could be the new Ferrari. Sure, they don't have the name, but they could be the team on the rise, not one but two dominating drivers that rival Verstappen, with the best cars and twice the trophies. They could be the team that defined the new age of prestige in the sport, generating unstoppable talent, making all other constructors grit their teeth in envy.

They could have walked away with the Constructors' and an undisputed 1-2 on the WDC. And the worst part of all? They know the world can see that they were playing favorites and it doesn't even seem to bother them at all, and that's absolutely terrible considering all teams, Piastri is the most talented #2 driver. Why you'd go about wasting the best second driver by favoring the other guy when you could absolutely have it all is mind-boggling.
 
Nice to see both Leclerc brothers in FP1. What a nice moment for them. Maybe that balms the Ferrari pain for Charles a little.

Lando got the wobbles halfway through at turn 2, narrowly avoiding a spin. Zak said they're working on the setup for the car and Lando "planting" it. Oscar at pit wall observing and referred to as a sleepy panda by commentators. Aston Martin drivers nearly wiped each other out. Ollie's car is dying mysteriously. Charles spun out entirely and Arthur made fun of him; Charles later said he doesn't understand why their pace sucks and looks like he just gives up. Max said his car is broken everywhere.

Lando first, Max second, and Leclerc third despite his frustration.
 
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Do well? He finished FP2 in P8. Still better then Hamilton in P14 but still. I guess Sunday will be boring with Norris winning straight from pole and Verstappen finishing a good P2. Allegedly Hülkenberg had the best longrun times so maybe we get another Hulk podium. Or a Bortoletto premiere podium
 
Kyria the Great said:
he's better than Norris and only his lack of experience has done him
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I think what done him the most is his inexperience with American tracks (Austin, Mexico, Brazil, and Las Vegas). He didn't do well on those in '24 either.

And ofc with McLaren bias exacerbating the struggle.
 
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