McLaren F1 slammed with favouritism allegation

A straight faced Zak Brown is flanked by a smiling Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris — Photo: © IMAGO

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McLaren slammed with F1 favouritism allegation

McLaren F1 team are the talk of the paddock after the Italian GP

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 14 September 2025 18:58 Updated: 22:53

McLaren F1 team have been hit with an accusation that they are favouring one of their drivers more than the other in the fight for the 2025 championship.

The Woking-based outfit emerged as the clear frontrunners in the constructors' standings early on this season and at next weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, they may even wrap up the title with seven races to go.

Where the drivers' standings are concerned however, there are now just 31 points between championship leader Oscar Piastri and his team-mate Lando Norris after last weekend's controversial Italian GP.

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At Monza, Norris was going well in P2 before he was struck by bad luck in the pits, posting a pit-stop time of 5.9 seconds which saw Piastri overtake him.

However, the Aussie racer was swiftly instructed to give the place back in the latest instalment of the papaya rules debacle, sparking a fierce reaction over McLaren's driver treatment.

Bernie Ecclestone slams McLaren F1 driver treatment

McLaren have always denied any form of favouritism towards their drivers and when the team were hit with similar accusations in the past, McLaren CEO Zak Brown said: "The way to let the drivers decide who’s first and second is by treating them fully, fairly, transparently."

But ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone isn't buying the team's claim after the mess at Monza, telling Swiss-German publication Blick: "They keep talking about fairness. But is it fair for Piastri to be penalised for a team mistake? No."

"You're starting to get the feeling that McLaren prefers a world champion named Lando Norris. Mistakes like missed pit stops, engine failures, and suspension failures may have become less common, but they're part of the sport."

Ahead of next weekend's Azerbaijan GP, team principal Andrea Stella declared that McLaren would be launching a review into their driver processes, but warned that such a reflection of the way they go racing wouldn't necessarily see a change occur.

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