McLaren has revealed that a desire to avoid potential distractions from rival Formula 1 teams showing interest in its drivers was behind the timing of Oscar Piastri’s renewal.
The Woking-based squad announced in the build-up to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix this weekend that Piastri has put pen to paper on a fresh multi-term contract.
Piastri’s previous deal still had an additional two seasons to run, but McLaren has moved to tie down his services having agreed new terms with Lando Norris before last season.
Having missed out on luring Norris, Red Bull had been showing a growing interest in the Australian’s signature amid the speculation surrounding the future of Max Verstappen.
But as it strives to add to the Constructors’ title that it won in 2024 in the upcoming campaign, McLaren has sought to dispel rumours that either driver could move elsewhere.
“There wasn’t pressure either side,” Brown told select media including Motorsport Week.
“We know we want to have stability and visibility moving forward. That puts everyone in a great frame of mind.
“And I think obviously people perform, bless you, at their optimum levels of performance when they’re not distracted.
“We know this sport, there’s an element of teams trying to distract, and we just wanted to get well ahead. And we knew exactly what we wanted to do.
“We’ve done a fantastic job. I think all drivers, all teams are always kind of constantly working to improve.
“So is there room for improvement in Oscar? Absolutely. Is there room for improvement in Lando? Absolutely. Is there room for improvement in Andrea [Stella] and I? Absolutely.
“And we’re going to do it together in this great team environment that we’ve created. So it was an easy decision.”
Piastri’s development made McLaren renewal logical
Piastri capitalised on McLaren’s mid-season surge in competitiveness last term to bag his maiden victories, culminating in the team winning a long-awaited championship.
McLaren boss Stella acknowledged how Piastri’s tangible rate of development since his debut in F1 made it a logical choice to commit to the Perth-born driver longer term.
“Oscar has been in Formula 1 for two seasons,” Stella highlighted. “For somebody who’s been in Formula 1 for two seasons, the level at which he has driven, the level of maturity he has shown inside and outside of the car, has been no shorter than simply impressive.
“And also we are World Champions because he delivered. Because being Constructors’ World Championship is just the sum of the points of the two drivers.
“The trajectory we have observed in Oscar’s growth was very convincing. And at no point we saw that this trajectory had any sort of deviation from being very steep.
“So for us, committing to Oscar was very natural. Like it was natural for Oscar to commit to McLaren.
“And at no point there was any conversation around, if we don’t do this, something else. It was just very natural.
“Like I’m insisting on this kind of attribute, because it was a natural derivation of the enjoyment we have of our collaboration, of how strong this collaboration is delivering.
“The great relationships that we have overall, between our two drivers and the drivers contributing to lead the team. So it was just straightforward.”
Piastri ‘the perfect fit’ at McLaren
And although he has proven his worth on the track, Stella also highlighted how Piastri’s character aligns with the particular values that he has instilled within McLaren.
“So in addition to this capability to deliver that we saw in Oscar, and we saw in Oscar working together and so well together with Lando, Oscar is also a perfect fit from a cultural, behavioural point of view, which for us is a very important value to build the team on a strong foundation,” he said.
“So, like I said before, at least from my angle, it was very simple, very natural, and kind of just consequential to the vision for the team.
McLaren targeting sustained success
Brown, who has branded McLaren’s pairing the best on the whole grid, is convinced that a consistent line-up will bolster the team’s aim to achieve sustained success.
“I think our role, and my role, is to bring stability, visibility, longevity to our drivers, to our leadership, to our team, to our pit wall, to our sponsorship, to our HPP partnership, if you look at the great sports teams, usually stability and camaraderie is a key ingredient to long-term success, continued success, so drivers are obviously a huge element of that,” Brown elucidated.
“So, love the fact that sitting here today, I think our race team will look very similar for the foreseeable future, which will mean we should just be able to build on our success.”
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