As the Formula One season intensifies, speculation has surfaced suggesting that McLaren is favoring Lando Norris in the championship battle, allegedly giving him a better car than his teammate Oscar Piastri.
These claims have sparked debates among fans and pundits alike, but former Formula One World Champion Alan Jones has dismissed such ideas, calling them “absolute nonsense” and highlighting that rumors about favoritism are a recurring theme in F1 history.
ALAN JONES on McLaren favourism
“It’s the greatest load of nonsense of all time,” Jones said. “Every single season we come across this bull**it. It’s either Mark Webber against Vettel, or it’s somebody. It’s always, ‘Oh, he’s got a better car than me’ or ‘He’s getting preferential treatment’. It’s absolute crap.”
He went on to explain that teams don’t spend millions traveling around the world just to obstruct one car or give preference to another. “I can assure you that both these cars are getting the same sort of treatment. I know Zak Brown very well, he’s a good racer, and he’d be giving both these blokes equal chances,” Jones added, reinforcing the fairness applied within the team.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has also addressed the rumors, emphasizing that there has never been a fallout between Norris and Piastri. “There hasn’t even been a fallout… not between them. Not once. Even when they’ve touched, they may not have been totally aligned around what Andrea and I and the team have come up with. But they’ve never gone, ‘Lando did that, Oscar did that,’” Brown said.
He explained that any small frustrations the drivers express are usually directed toward him and technical director Andrea Stella because the team is striving to maintain fairness. “Anytime they get grumpy, it’s a little bit toward me and Andrea because we’re trying to be fair and balanced. And the fact that they’ve both been a little bit grumpy towards us tells you things have been fair and balanced—we’re trying to make sure they race clean,” he added.
WHAT MORE; Alan Jones on McLaren favourism and Zak Brown
The statements from both Alan Jones and Zak Brown make it clear that both Norris and Piastri are being treated equally and that the notion of favoritism is more a product of speculation than reality.
Minor tensions between teammates are normal in any high-stakes environment, especially when championship points and career opportunities are on the line. What matters is that McLaren is focused on providing both drivers with the tools to compete at the front while maintaining team integrity.
Ultimately, the McLaren camp aims to ensure fair competition and clean racing. The ongoing rumors about preferential treatment highlight the passion and scrutiny of the Formula One fanbase, but insiders assure that the team’s priority is balanced performance.
Alan Jones’ comments and Zak Brown’s insights together underline the same point: in modern Formula One, fairness is enforced not through speculation but through the team’s consistent approach to driver management and engineering support.
McLaren’s commitment to treating both Norris and Piastri equally demonstrates the professional culture within the team, proving that speculation about car advantages is often far removed from the reality of what happens behind the scenes. In a sport defined by speed, strategy, and precision, the truth is that both drivers are given the chance to compete on equal footing, allowing the racing itself to remain the ultimate judge.