The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix confirmed that Oscar Piastri has the right qualities to aspire to the World Champion title, and his victory in Jeddah placed him at the top of the standings, ahead of his teammate. Zak Brown shared his thoughts.
In Jeddah, Oscar Piastri claimed his third win of the season after previous victories in China and Bahrain. His composed and calculating mindset allows him to exploit every detail to make a difference on track—tools that are part of the skill set of a potential future world champion. The result at the Saudi circuit brought the young Australian to the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings, ten points ahead of Lando Norris. Norris had to recover during the race after starting from tenth position due to an accident in Q3 that compromised his weekend.
Oscar Piastri’s victory in Saudi Arabia raises a question that has been quietly circulating through the paddock: “What now?” It’s well known that McLaren has never explicitly designated a number one or number two driver within the team. Now that both Papaya drivers are going head-to-head, it’s natural to wonder how the dynamics will evolve within Andrea Stella’s squad—dynamics that already caused debate during last season.
At the end of the weekend in Jeddah, Zak Brown – McLaren’s CEO – offered his perspective on the inevitable battle between car #4 and car #81 in the coming races, reaffirming the philosophy of the “Papaya rules”: “We have our two number ones. I think they’re equal, right? They race each other hard on track. I don’t think we’ve seen them in a truly epic duel yet—but I think that day is coming, and I can’t wait “.
“They race hard but clean, so I know everyone is waiting for that big moment. I think it’ll be a bit of a non-event. For us internally, we know it’s more a matter of when, not if. When you have two great Formula 1 drivers racing that close, most of the time something eventually happens. But that’s Formula 1—so I’m excited ,” the former driver and British entrepreneur continued.
Penalty for Verstappen in Saudi Arabia? Zak Brown agrees
At the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the action kicked off immediately on the first lap, when Oscar Piastri—starting from second—pulled alongside Max Verstappen on the inside line, forcing the Dutchman off the track. Verstappen rejoined in the lead but received a five-second penalty from race control for gaining an advantage by leaving track limits—a costly penalty that ultimately handed Piastri the win in Jeddah.
“It probably would’ve been better for everyone if they had just swapped positions,” said Zak Brown to Sky Sports F1 after the race, naturally siding with his driver. “I definitely think a penalty was deserved. Oscar was clearly on the inside, had the better start, and you’ve got to use the racetrack. Whether it’s a five-second penalty or giving the position back, it could’ve gone either way—but it was clearly Oscar’s corner, and at some point, you’ve just got to yield “.
Photo: McLaren.
