Netflix shows F1 bosses at war over Piastri: I'd be 'embarrassed', says McLaren's Zak Brown

F1
- Last updated: February 26th 2023

Behind-the-scenes footage in the new fifth season of Drive to Survive shows an increasingly bitter row between McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown and Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer as both teams fight to secure the services of Oscar Piastri

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McLaren boss Zak Brown has said his opposite number at Alpine, Otmar Szafnauer, should have been “embarrassed” over the Oscar Piastri contract row, with the bitterness between the pair recently revealed in the latest Drive to Survive series.

The fierce rivalry between the pair has been a focus of Season 5, with both principals desperate to get one up over the other.

The respective midfield teams were locked in a fierce battle over the best of the rest constructors’ position behind Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, with Brown saying “Losing to Otmar, it doesn’t feel good at the end if you don’t come out on top.”

Things are taken up several notches mid-season when the now infamous row erupts between the two over the services of the French team’s junior driver Piastri.

Drive to Survive shows initial uneasiness in the Alpine camp over the Hungarian GP weekend when Alonso makes semi-positive noises about signing a new contract, but Szafnauer’s worst fears are confirmed as the Spaniard then chooses to sign for Aston Martin instead for 2023 – which Alpine boss describes as “unbelievable”.

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On the grid with Alpine at Hungary, but Alonso had his eyes on Aston Martin

Marco Canoniero/LightRocket via Getty Images

Alpine turns to its junior driver Piastri next, but he has other ideas, wishing to join McLaren to replace Daniel Ricciardo – both the Australian and his former French team released conflicting social media statements over whether he would be driving for them next year.

“I’m gonna go breakdance – been workin’ on my moonwalk,” says Brown when Alpine eventually relents after losing out in a legal investigation into said contracts.

“Why were they so confident before then?” a McLaren employee asks his boss. “That’s a good question to ask them,” he replies.

“I think Otmar has been caught with his pants down. If I was him I’d be very embarrassed.”

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Enstone then gears up to sue its former junior driver – a situation described as “‘****in’ crazy’” by Brown – to try and reclaim some of the funds lost to all the F1 testing it gave Piastri in preparation for an Enstone race seat – cue crunch meetings between the two principals in the McLaren motorhome over the Belgian GP weekend.

“I just wanted to say with all this Oscar stuff…although we lost Oscar, we think we have a good case in UK law,” Szafnauer tells Brown, with Piastri’s defence being he had no obligation to sign a race contract in spite of the preparation proffered.

“He shouldn’t have taken anything if he thought he didn’t have a contract [i.e. an obligation to drive for Alpine]. We’ve done the math, the value of that is $5m”

“If you know [i.e. think] there’s no contract and you take all the offerings that the other party is giving but you don’t give back what you’re supposed to give, then you need to give all the money back.”

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Preparing Piastri for an F1 seat — including this 2021 test — cost $5m, claimed Alpine

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“The downside is you going after him would be a PR disaster,” replies Brown, laying down his marker. “Is the five million worth it?

“Without getting into the details of my Oscar contract, I may have some support I have to give him, so his problems become my problems.”

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Though Alpine loses out in legal wranglings, it eventually beats McLaren to fourth in the constructors’ standings, as well as opting for Pierre Gasly to replace Alonso.

“Knowing what I know now, and looking back at everything that‘s happened, if I were the CEO of McLaren, I would’ve taken Pierre Gasly,” says Szafnauer.

“It feels great to do our talking on the track.”

“Otmar might have to have the last laugh this time around,” says Brown wryly.

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