McLaren CEO Zak Brown says Oscar Piastri's F1 contract saga made Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer look 'silly'

McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer has been made to look “a little silly” for his running commentary of Oscar Piastri’s F1 contract saga. 
Zak Brown (USA) McLaren
Zak Brown (USA) McLaren

F1’s Contract Recognition Board ruled earlier this month that McLaren had won their battle against Alpine for the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:services of Piastri, who will replace Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren next𒊎 sea🐬son. 

Ahead of the CRB hearing, Szafnauer168澳洲5最新开奖结果: expressed confidence in Alpine’s claim they had an agreement in place with Piastri to be promoted from the role of reserve and make his F1 debut with the French manufacturer in 2023

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The Alpine chief accused Piastri of a168澳洲5最新开奖结果: lack of “integrity” over the youn🎃g Aus🍒tralian’s refusal to drive for the team next year. 

In contrast, McLaren’s hierarchy refrained from comment෴ing until a verdiꦐct was reached. 

“It was ౠvery noisy, but we really haven’t commented on anything. I think it was better just to let things play out and give a little bit of colou꧟r afterwards,” Brown told NBC Sports. 

“If you look at all of the commeꦆnts by Otmar he was giving a little play-by-play of the CRB and how confident they were, and now I think he looks a little silly.

“That’s why it’s best to💞 keep your mouth shut, and we can talk about it after the fact when there’s something concrete to say.”

Otmar Szafnauer (USA) Alpine F1 Team, Team Principal on the grid. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 14, Dutch Grand Prix,
Otmar Szafnauer (USA) Alpine F1 Team, Team Principal on the grid. Formula 1 World Championship…

Brown said McLaren were confident the CRB would rule in their favour and so did not feel the need to comment publicly on the matter.&💟nbsp;

"Before the CRB ruling, they didn't💙 know what they didn't know and we kept our mo✨uths shut deliberately,” he explained. 

"Now that ruling has come out and some of the detail, I thi�♔�nk it's clear what happened there.

"So we recognised there was a lot of noise, but we knew the truth would come out eventually and we could ride it out, as opposed to giving a r🃏unning commentary.

"At the time we were not oblivious 🥃to the noise and some of the direct message notes I got from fans. But now we're very comfortable that the CRB ruling has come out, a✃nd that's very clear there."

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