Zak Brown called out for Oscar Piastri comment after McLaren boss made a guarantee | F1 | Sport

Jacques Villeneuve believes that Zak Brown was wrong to guarantee Oscar Piastri that he would eventually become an F1 world champion. The McLaren Racing CEO heaped praise on his Australian star after watching the 24-year-old miss out on the 2025 title to team-mate Lando Norris.

Piastri led the Drivers’ Championship standings for the majority of the 2025 season but capitulated after taking a 34-point advantage over Norris with his seventh win of the year in Zandvoort. After the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi, he had dropped behind Max Verstappen, finishing third in the end-of-season classification.

The final two race weekends of the year offered Piastri a confidence boost heading into the off-season, as the Melbourne-born star was unfortunate not to walk away with at least one more Grand Prix victory. He received plenty of praise from his boss, Brown, for his role in McLaren’s title sweep in 2025.

“He is a future World Champion,” Brown told Sky Sports F1 after watching his other snatch the title. Both our guys won seven races, drove brilliantly. They supported each other. It’s a cruel sport. Things sometimes go your way, [sometimes they] don’t. But I’m excited to go racing with these two guys next year.”

However, according to 1997 world champion Villeneuve, Brown’s comments were a mistake. “He might [win a title],” he told PokerScout. “Zak Brown should have said Oscar might be world champion, not will be. It was the same thing for Norris. This was the one year where he had to go and grab it. Because who knows what the regulations will do.”

Now, Piastri is reliant on McLaren acing the new technical regulations to fight for another F1 crown. “It’s tough because Oscar led for most of it,” Villeneuve continued. “He was on the way up, but I guess he was climbing too early in the season. It was the wrong time to have the momentum, I guess. But Baku was costly.

“I think Baku really affected him. In the last two races, he was quick, but it took him a while to get that momentum going again, which is very strange. And at the time when Norris actually stepped on the gas. It’s a long season, and when you lead it for so long, and you have a big advantage in your mind, you think,’ Ok, I’m there, all I need is to not make mistakes.’

“Then you throw it away. It can be frustrating, but he knows he can drive fast, so if the car permits, he’ll get another shot. That’s the issue with the regulation changes; no one knows which team will be quick, and it might not be McLaren.”