Former F1 supremo claims McLaren are sabotaging Oscar Piastri

Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone will not back down over claims McLaren are favouring Lando Norris and sabotaging Oscar Piastri.

Since Norris’ DNF at the Dutch Grand Prix, the Brit has closed the gap in the standings from 34 points to leading Piastri in the championship by a single point.

The F1 title race also took a controversial turn at the Italian GP, when Norris, who had been running most of the race in second, pitted but his crew delivered a slow stop, allowing Piastri to come out ahead in second.

However, McLaren instructed Piastri to give the position back, despite it being a team mistake rather than a driver error, a decision that has been criticised by some.

Ecclestone went even further in a conversation with Blick after the Italian GP, where he said: “You are 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 are part of the sport."

Ecclestone continues McLaren favouritism claims

Speaking to RTL/ntv and sport.de, Ecclestone has not backed down on this position and even went further to continue the conspiracy, claiming Piastri was ‘clearly faster’ at the start of the year but McLaren had recently "more often slowed down the Australian using various methods.”

Ecclestone was unable to provide examples for this, but added: “McLaren prefers the English driver Norris. He has more star power and marketing qualities for them, more camera presence and public exposure. That's why it's probably better for McLaren."

The former F1 boss also took aim at ‘Papaya Rules’ and concluded: "You can tell Piastri is upset and tired of them, and the discussions about them are getting on his nerves.

“The pressure is constantly increasing, and Piastri is frustrated that he can no longer win races so easily and that Norris is clearly being favoured within the team."

McLaren favouritism claims have been met with intense criticism from some F1 pundits, with Ralf Schumacher in a separate interview before Ecclestone’s quotes were published, calling out these theories.

Speaking on the Sky Sports Germany podcast Backstage Boxengasse, Schumacher said: “What reason does McLaren have to favour one driver over another? None at all. It makes no sense for any team to give one driver or the other a bad car."

The German continued to blame Piastri’s comments in the media for the theories, and added: "If you start making excuses, saying things like, 'The car is completely different', or 'Something's not right here', and then you see Webber constantly on the phone, then people on the outside can easily get the impression that they're no longer entirely satisfied.

"And that would be disastrous. So now management needs to step up and say, 'Hey, focus'."

READ MORE: Piastri slammed for feeding McLaren favouritism conspiracy

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