McLaren's Brown: Piastri 'Will Be World Champion With Us' Despite 2025 Title Loss

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has declared Oscar Piastri "will be a world champion in a McLaren" despite the Australian driver narrowly losing the 2025 championship to teammate Lando Norris at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Piastri led the standings for 15 consecutive races before a late-season collapse erased his 34-point advantage, though team leadership remains convinced his trajectory points toward future titles.

Why it matters:

McLaren's public endorsement of both drivers as championship-caliber talents validates their controversial equal-status approach in an era when most top teams designate a clear number one. This strategy—contrasting sharply with Red Bull's Verstappen-centric model—proves teams can develop and retain elite talent without internal hierarchy, potentially reshaping how franchises manage dual-star lineups.

The Details:

• Piastri held championship lead from rounds 5-19, peaking with a 34-point advantage after August's Dutch Grand Prix.
• His title hopes unraveled during a winless streak across the final nine races, including crashes in Baku and struggles on low-grip tracks like Singapore.
• Critical Margin: Team principal Andrea Stella noted the entire season hinged on a mere 30 milliseconds gap in Abu Dhabi qualifying—the smallest differential all year.
• Rapid Adaptation: Stella highlighted Piastri's ability to overcome early-season weaknesses at low-grip circuits, calling his learning curve "phenomenal" for a third-year driver.
• Team Dynamics: Brown emphasized the drivers' professionalism, stating they've "never had an odd exchange" despite competitive pressure, though both occasionally vented frustrations toward management—a sign of healthy intensity.

What's next:

McLaren's confidence in Piastri suggests they'll maintain their egalitarian approach through 2026, betting both drivers can challenge for titles. With Norris now a proven champion and Piastri demonstrating championship-caliber pace before his slump, the team aims to leverage their symbiotic rivalry against Red Bull's single-driver focus. The real test comes when both are in identical equipment during 2026's regulation reset—where Piastri's proven ability to extract maximum performance from marginal machinery could prove decisive. As Brown noted, McLaren took "a risk on both drivers" when they joined the team, and their 2025 success (seven wins each) has already silenced critics who claimed equal treatment was impossible at the front.