Brown denies Palou claim, rules out team strategy change

Oct.15 (GMM) Zak Brown has dismissed Alex Palou’s courtroom claim that he never wanted Oscar Piastri in a McLaren seat, describing the allegation as “absolutely ridiculous.”

L’Equipe’s headline reported: “We have the best duo on the F1 grid with Oscar and Lando: Zak Brown rejects Alex Palou’s accusations”. De Telegraaf ran: “McLaren boss Zak Brown denies he was against the arrival of world championship leader Oscar Piastri”.

In separate comments published by Sport1, Brown also rejected suggestions that McLaren’s so-called ‘Papaya rules’ need to be revised now that the constructors’ title is secured and following the tense on-track clash between Piastri and teammate Lando Norris in Singapore.

“Our strategy isn’t changing,” Brown said. “We’re approaching the remaining races exactly as we have all the previous ones.

“As much as we would like to limit the duel to our two guys, Max is still fully in the game,” he added, referring to four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

“The key is to stay focused and humble at the same time. We couldn’t be hungrier.”

The remarks come amid speculation that Piastri’s manager Mark Webber is weighing up a potential Ferrari switch for the Australian for 2027, while debate continues over whether McLaren should designate a clear number 1 driver.

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