Zak Brown hints at Oscar Piastri F1 title win as his final objective with McLaren

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Zak Brown has already seen most of his major goals for McLaren realised. Now, Oscar Piastri needs to add a world championship to complete the set.

The team’s momentum continued last year when Lando Norris captured his first drivers’ title, becoming the first McLaren driver to do so since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

Piastri held a 34-point lead over Norris with ten races left and looked set to challenge Verstappen too, but he struggled in the final stretch, finishing third overall and 13 points behind Norris.

Zak Brown’s vision of World Championship success with two drivers​

Speaking to The Athletic, Brown said he dreams of having a team of world champions. He said, “be a world championship team racing with two world championship drivers,” and after Norris’ success, “halfway there.”

There have been links between McLaren and Max Verstappen after they hired his former race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase for 2028. However, Brown stood by his belief that the team already has the best driver pairing in F1.

“The first thing on your shopping list is the best drivers in the world,” he said. “Yes, you’ve got to give them the equipment to get the job done, but I think the sport is so close, even if you have the best car, you’re not going to have an advantage where you’re not going to not need the best driver line-up to win the championship.

“In all of our racing series, the number one goal is the best driver line-up that you can get. I wouldn’t trade ours for any other combination on the grid.”

Norris became champion later than expected last season because McLaren were better than Red Bull throughout most of it. But their drivers were so evenly matched that they took points off each other every week.

This allowed Verstappen to come back from 104 points down and finish just two short of Norris.

Zak Brown addresses rumours linking Oscar Piastri with Red Bull​

While McLaren have been linked to Verstappen, there are also reports that Red Bull have their eyes on Piastri.

Verstappen’s long-term future in F1 is still up in the air, and his contract includes an exit clause that could come into play if he falls outside the top two in the standings by August. That’s why Red Bull are starting to look at backup options.

Brown didn’t seem bothered by the speculation, saying: “I would imagine there’s not a team on the grid that wouldn’t want to have Oscar and Lando driving for them.”

Piastri and Norris both have several years left on their deals, including extension clauses. But Brown has made it clear he wants both drivers to be committed beyond just what’s written in their contracts.

Piastri, who joined McLaren in 2023, recently spoke on team channels about his desire to stay with the team for the long haul.

A championship might be out of reach this season after missing the first two races. Piastri currently trails Kimi Antonelli by 57 points.

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