McLaren have future F1 WORLD CHAMPION on one condition claims Brown
Zak Brown has faith in his Formula 1 driver line-up despite McLaren's poor start to the season
McLaren boss Zak Brown has claimed that they have “a future world champion” in Oscar Piastri – so long as the team can give him a fast enough car.
Piastri has impressed in his debut Formula 1 season having already picked up four points as a rookie. Teammate Lando Norris sits just six points ahead of him as the Australian continues to put in some impressive performances in a struggling McLaren car.
Filling Daniel Ricciardo’s shoes was never going to be an easy task, but the Honey Badger’s compatriot has already shown glimpses of his talent inside the first five races.
Red Bull’s Christian Horner has even labelled the 22-year-old as F1’s “next Max Verstappen” and this appears to be something that Brown agrees with.
"Oscar has been impressive since we've had him in the car. He's very mature. He's very focused and he's very technical,” the McLaren chief told the media.
READ MORE: Piastri turns 22 - How the Australian has settled at McLaren
“The combination of Lando and Oscar, I couldn't think of a better combination of drivers.
"Oscar has done a fantastic job and he's trading lap times with Lando now and that's what you want.
"He's not really made certainly not any big mistakes. Typical exploring the limits so the odd lock of a wheel here and there but yeah, he's not been to all these races so early indications are we've got a future world champion on our hands.
"We just have to work to give him a faster car now."
READ MORE: Piastri reveals lessons learned from 'BENCHMARK' Norris
Related
More F1 news
Latest F1 news
Recommended by the editors
Barcelona Grand Prix
F1 Barcelona Grand Prix 2026 results: Final classification after late penalties applied
Barcelona Grand Prix
Was Lewis Hamilton change to blame for Ferrari crash at Barcelona Grand Prix?
F1 News & Gossip
Kim Kardashian calls Lewis Hamilton live in the paddock after landmark Barcelona GP victory
Barcelona Grand Prix
FIA announce LATE penalty for Mercedes star at Barcelona Grand Prix
Races
-
Grand Prix of Australia 2026
-
Grand Prix of China 2026
-
Grand Prix of Japan 2026
-
Grand Prix of Bahrain 2026
-
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2026
-
Miami Grand Prix 2026
-
Grand Prix du Canada 2026
-
Grand Prix De Monaco 2026
-
Gran Premio de Barcelona-Catalunya 2026
-
Grand Prix of Austria 2026
-
Grand Prix of Great Britain 2026
-
Grand Prix of Belgium 2026
-
Grand Prix of Hungary 2026
-
Dutch Grand Prix 2026
-
Grand Prix of Italy 2026
-
Gran Premio de España 2026
-
Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2026
-
Grand Prix of Singapore 2026
-
Grand Prix of the United States 2026
-
Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2026
-
Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2026
-
Las Vegas Grand Prix 2026
-
Qatar Grand Prix 2026
-
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2026
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Editorial & corporate information
Avenue HQ
10–12 East Parade
Leeds
LS1 2BH
United Kingdom Regional correspondence
View contact page