McLaren F1 driver announcement causes stunning backlash

Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Hungary, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

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McLaren driver announcement causes stunning backlash

McLaren F1 revealed a bizarre announcement with Oscar Piastri

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 28 December 2024 18:54 Updated: 11:19

McLaren have caused quite a stir on social media after posting an announcement alongside one of their star Formula 1 drivers.

The papaya driver duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished the 2024 season on a high, securing the team's first constructors' championship since 1998.

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Norris stormed to victory at the season finale in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, doing exactly what was needed of him to bring championship success to McLaren.

Piastri, on the other hand, finished the Abu Dhabi GP in P10 after a collision with drivers' title holder Max Verstappen on the opening lap.

Piastri's second season in the sport was a stellar one, with his two grand prix victories and commendable sportsmanship contributing to McLaren's constructors' victory.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri achieved six race wins between them in 2024

Oscar Piastri was at the centre of McLaren's social media backlash

Piastri announces new grand prix

As the F1 winter break continues, McLaren kept their fans entertained with a post via social media which announced a 'new grand prix', designed by Piastri using an image generator.

After prompting the generator with playful suggestions like 'moon with dogs in fairy costumes and broomsticks with lasers', the 23-year-old conjured up a poster for the non-existent event.

"The Moon Dog Grand Prix, let's make it happen," Piastri declared.

Whilst the Aussie racer seemed to be in support of the lighthearted announcement, fans took to the comments on the McLaren Instagram page to criticise the team's choice to promote the use of AI.

"Sad that you’re promoting AI and not supporting the hard working artists who create gorgeous (and frankly much better) posters for your team on social media," one user commented.

Another said: "Love you guys but let's promote real artists instead of AI please, by doing this you're supporting art theft 💔"

When the team revealed their driver's creation in a separate post, the comments continued to pour in, with McLaren facing further pushback over the concept.

Another Instagram user said: "Fans with common sense don’t support AI, and before anyone will yell at me - yes i’ve seen the video with oscar and i still think this is wrong."

While on X, one fan was not happy with the team's use of resources: "All that constructor’s championship money and you couldn’t be bothered to hire a real artist?"

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

View full biography

Max Verstappen McLaren Formula 1 Lando Norris Oscar Piastri Abu Dhabi GP