McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has clapped back at an Australian politician after he argued the Woking outfit was giving Lando Norris more support than Oscar Piastri.
Senator Matt Canavan discussed the team's strategy call at the Qatar Grand Prix during a session of Australia's Senate Rural, Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, when he asked if McLaren was costing the Australian driver the championship.
The Qatar Grand Prix was a day to forget for McLaren. Piastri started from pole position and finished in second, and Norris finished fourth after starting from second.
An early safety car on Lap 7 resulted in the rest of the grid pitting, but the McLarens stayed out to ensure more strategic flexibility for the remainder of the race due to the 25-lap tyre limit that had been put in place. This, however, ended up being the wrong call.
Brown responded to Canavan's comments during the first day of practice in Abu Dhabi, claiming the politician is "very uninformed and uneducated" about the championship.
"We have done the best we can. Oscar himself has talked about how fair and equitable [we have been]," he told Sky Sports F1. "We make mistakes but Oscar has been our number one spokesperson. He's never said a single word that anything has ever not felt right.
"I saw what the senator said. Clearly, he's very uninformed and uneducated about our sport."
He added, "That's the cool thing about sport. People get very supportive of their heroes of their countries, so I'm not surprised to see people waving the flag for their drivers. It's most important to us that our team knows. And there are a lot of uneducated people out there and their views, and I'd spend all day trying to correct them, so it is what it is."
The drivers' championship is going down to the wire at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Norris currently leads the standings with 12 points over Red Bull rival Max Verstappen in second. Piastri is still in the running in third and is four points behind Verstappen.
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