In a lighthearted but headline-grabbing exchange during a Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee hearing, Nationals Senator Matt Canavan quizzed department secretary Jim Betts on whether McLaren had hampered Piastri’s title push with questionable strategy calls.
The room quickly erupted into laughter, but the moment highlighted how strongly some fans — and now politicians — have latched onto conspiracy theories swirling around the 24-year-old’s season.
“It’s been a bit of a frustrating night for some Australians,” Canavan said as he raised the Qatar Grand Prix blunder that saw Piastri miss out on victory.
“I don’t know who to ask this to, but you deal with transport and cars. So do you think McLaren is biased against Oscar Piastri and costing him the world championship?”
Betts avoided committing to an answer, prompting Canavan to turn to Regional Affairs Assistant Minister Anthony Chisholm.
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“I definitely think he’s copped some raw decisions this year,” Chisholm replied, noting his daughter, now “obsessed with F1,” would be “very upset when she gets up this morning.”
The exchange, delivered with clear humour, highlighted how strongly some fans believe Piastri has been disadvantaged in McLaren’s title fight.
Those theories gained traction after Qatar, where McLaren’s decision not to pit Piastri and Norris under an early Safety Car allowed Max Verstappen to claim a victory Piastri had appeared set to convert from pole.
Fan speculation has also focused on earlier incidents, including team-order controversy at the Italian Grand Prix, where Piastri was instructed to let Norris past after a slow pit stop, and on-track tension in Singapore, where Norris collided with Piastri on the opening lap and kept the position. While Norris later accepted responsibility, fans saw these uneven outcomes as evidence of bias.
All of this unfolded against the backdrop of McLaren’s interventionist ‘papaya rules’, which aim to prevent intra-team collisions but have often left Piastri on the unfavourable side of team judgement calls.
McLaren has repeatedly denied favouritism, insisting they will not impose team orders for the title decider, even after Piastri revealed a conversation in Qatar about potentially assisting Norris in the final two rounds.
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