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McLaren remained silent during the protracted saga surrounding Oscar Piastri, Alpine, and Daniel Ricciardo. Now the dust has settled, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown spoke at length with Mat Coch, Speedcafe.com’s Formula 1 Editor in conjunction with RacingNews365 on a range of topics for a series of articles set to be published over the coming days.
Oscar Piastri is one of the most exciting young talents of his generation and, by virtue of the payout McLaren made to Daniel Ricciardo to make room for him in the team, is the most expensive rookie in Formula 1 history.
The events that saw the 21-year-old join McLaren from Alpine have been well-documented, as have the rights and the wrongs of the situation – in detail by Brown while speaking with Speedcafe.com.
Piastri won the Formula Renault, Formula 2, and Formula 3 championships in consecutive years before being consigned to a Reserve Driver role with Alpine this year.
Understandably, he got itchy feet when the Enstone squad dallied on securing his future, leaving his manager, Mark Webber to reach out to an old contact; former Porsche boss Andreas Seidl who is now Team Principal at McLaren.
“Andreas is the one that I ultimately lead on to come forward with what he wants as a driver line-up,” Brown said.
“We think very similar – I can’t think of any decisions that we haven’t both agreed on, whether that’s driver or other performance-related [issues].
“So it was Andreas who brought it forward, it was Andreas who recruited him [Piastri], it was Andreas that had the relationship with Mark.
“Obviously, I’ve seen him [Piastri] race, know his background, but credit to Andreas for binding him.
“He was our Reserve Driver, which was something Andreas did. I mean, his resume speaks for itself to date, and it was Andreas that put forward the recommendation which I fully, fully supported.”
Pressed on what about Piastri impressed Brown in particular, he added: “Maturity, for a 21-year-old.
“I’ve been very impressed with how he conducted himself through this situation this year. It was a lot of pressure for a 21-year-old and he seems a tough character.”
The net result is McLaren now has two of the more highly-rated youngsters on the grid under contract, with Piastri set to partner Lando Norris for the next two seasons. Norris, who turns 23 next month, will become the elder statesman in the team.
In order to make that happen, a settlement had to be reached with Ricciardo.
The 33-year-old had a valid contract for next season and was under no obligation to walk away from that – he could very well have elected to continue, though the relationship would likely have become a very unhappy marriage as a result.
Speedcafe.com revealed negotiations over an early termination to that deal opened at $21 million. While it’s not known the exact dollar figure Ricciardo was (will be) paid, it’s fair to suggest he would have received most, if not all, of that sum – he had no reason to leave while McLaren was motivated to move him aside.
It’s created something of an unpalatable scenario for McLaren, with Piastri and Webber looking as though they’ve stabbed Ricciardo in the back, aided by McLaren, thereby ending the eight-time race winner’s career.
As Brown explained, the situation is more complicated than that, though has conceded that loyalty in Formula 1 extends only as far as performance.
And so, Ricciardo has been paid handsomely, and voluntarily it must be emphasised, to make way for Piastri, who now bears the weight of expectation upon him.
“I think it’s important that we recognise he’s a rookie who has spent a year outside of racing,” Brown said when asked what the team is looking for from its new signing.
“I think he’ll be like anyone else, a rookie that has a degree of a little bit of rust on him from not racing.
“But he’s a huge talent, so we just need to give him time.
“I think what we need to do is not put too much pressure on him, or get into comparisons, or he’s filling Daniel’s shoes, none of that stuff,” he added.
“We just need to let him settle in and support him because I think when you come to McLaren, and come in the way he’s come in, in between the Daniel situation, Alpine’s situation, it’ll be high profile.
“We need to make sure that we let him settle in, and while fans and media will be quick with their commentary, we need to give him time as a rookie to settle in.”
On the surface, McLaren has made a significant gamble in ousting Ricciardo in favour of Piastri. Not only has it done away with a known quantity, and a race winner, it has introduced a driver with high potential but one that is nonetheless unproven in Formula 1.
It’s also paid a high price for him, though that can be rationalised away.
McLaren was set to pay Ricciardo for 2023 regardless, meaning his payout value is likely to be whatever that value was always going to be – and potentially a little more as a golden handshake.
The only real cost is therefore an additional year of Piastri, and unverified sources have claimed his retainer will be one of the lowest on the grid.
“We’re making performance-driven decisions,” Brown reasoned when quizzed on the rationale behind incurring additional costs.
Formula 1 teams derive income primarily from two sources: commercial partners and prize money from Formula One Management.
Both are driven by results, meaning a slip in the constructors’ championship can have a significant and lasting impact on a team financially.
McLaren this year looks set to slip to fifth in that competition, a result that is understood to be worth around $10 million through prize money alone.
Add in the likelihood of missed bonuses through sponsors, and suddenly the risk of retaining Ricciardo versus hiring a newcomer is diminished. That is provided the team slips no lower than fifth next season.
“We’re financially very healthy as a racing team,” Brown noted.
“We’ve got great corporate support, new investors, so money didn’t really factor into our decision; it was what we thought was best for performance for the team long-term.
“We can afford to make performance-based decisions, even if those have short-term economic consequences.
“Economics wasn’t going to drive our decision.”
Part 4 of the interview with Brown will be published tomorrow morning, where he discusses McLaren Racing’s role within the broader McLaren Group and how it operates behind the curtain.
