“Everything in F1 is a calculated risk,” Zak Brown talks about Oscar Piastri’ arrival at McLaren for 2023


“Everything in F1 is a calculated risk,” Zak Brown talks about Oscar Piastri’ arrival at McLaren for 2023

Zak Brown and Oscar Piastri

Zak Brown, the McLaren CEO, has talked about having the former F3, and F2 Champion, Oscar Piastri on the grid alongside Lando Norris next season.

Zak Brown believes Oscar Piastri has everything in his arsenal, to be a successful F1 driver, but has also admitted that it is a calculated risk.

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Piastri just last week, took part in the young driver test for McLaren in Abu Dhabi and racked up around 100 valuable laps, despite facing an engine-related issue.

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The 21-year-old has a stellar CV coming into the pinnacle of motor racing and there is real hype around his arrival into the sport.

He has taken the place of Daniel Ricciardo on the Woking-based team, whose contract was cut short by one year because of his lackluster performances.

Daniel Ricciardo (IMAGO / Action Plus)
Daniel Ricciardo (IMAGO / Action Plus)

However, one thing worth considering is that Piastri despite his credentials, could struggle next year on the team, just like Ricciardo did.

The former eight-time Grand Prix Winner found it extremely tough to maneuver a McLaren machinery, and Piastri who did not do any kind of racing this year could find it difficult.

Zak Brown’s take on having Oscar Piastri on the McLaren team for 2023

Zak Brown
Zak Brown

A lot has been said about McLaren’s move to rope in Oscar Piastri for 2023 and Zak Brown has also recently shed light on the matter.

While talking about Piastri, Brown said, “Everything in Formula 1 is a calculated risk, but we’re quite optimistic.”

So we’re going to just be head down and give him all the support that we think he needs.”

We wouldn’t have made the decision we did if we didn’t have a high degree of confidence he’s going to be successful.”

Moreover, Zak Brown has made comparisons between Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri and feels, that the latter has a reserved personality.

Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri

I think people just need to get to know I don’t think we want to manufacture who he is or his personality.”

I think it’s been unfortunate, the accusations thrown his way from Otmar [Szafnauer] and Alpine.”

The truth is starting to come out in that sense,” Brown said, referencing the mud-signing that occurred during the contract controversy.

We just need to not put pressure on that trying to manufacture something; let him speak for himself, let his on-track results speak for himself.”

Oscar Piastri during the post-season Abu Dhabi test (IMAGO / PanoramiC)
Oscar Piastri during the post-season Abu Dhabi test (IMAGO / PanoramiC)

Much like Lando. We didn’t create Lando, Lando created himself as he settled into the sport.”

So I think what we need to do is not put pressure or try and create ‘Here’s Oscar’, let’s just [let] Oscar be Oscar and let his results, who he is, speak for itself in time.

Zak Brown has revealed that McLaren is going to give Oscar the time he would require to settle into the McLaren way of doing things. Moreover, has also indicated that everyone on the team has confidence in his abilities.

The 2023 season is quite a decent number of months away and when the action finally hits the tracks next year, it would be fascinating to see how Piastri would perform in comparison to Norris.