Alan Jones torches ‘bull**it’ McLaren favouritism claims

Former Grand Prix driver Alan Jones has come out swinging against claims that McLaren are favouring Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri in this year’s championship battle, dismissing the chatter with his trademark bluntness.

Australia’s 1980 Formula 1 world champion says the entire narrative is “a load of nonsense” – and a tired one at that.

The claims have bubbled up ever since Norris snatched back the points lead from Piastri after a strong run of form beginning at Zandvoort. While McLaren have insisted all season that both drivers are free to race, the team’s approach – particularly their call to swap the cars in Italy – has been seized on by critics determined to see bias where none exists.

Jones finds the whole notion laughable.

Old Habits Die Hard

In an interview with ABC, Jones torched the suggestion that McLaren are favouring their British star over his Australian teammate.

“No, I think it’s the greatest load of nonsense of all time,” he said, noting that similar storylines surface every year whenever two drivers from the same team are in contention.

“Every single season we come across this bullshit,” Jones added, “every time.

“It’s either Mark Webber against Vettel or it’s somebody [else]. It’s always at them ‘oh he’s got a better car than me’ or ‘he’s getting preferential treatment’, it’s absolute crap.”

Jones stressed that teams spending hundreds of millions to fight for world titles simply don’t sabotage one car to promote another.

“These teams don’t spend absolute fortunes travelling halfway around the world to stymie one car or give preference to the other. I can assure you both these cars are getting the same sort of treatment.

“I know [McLaren Racing CEO] Zak Brown very well, he’s a good racer, and he’d be giving both these blokes equal chances.”

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The former Williams charger and twelve-time Grand Prix winner says conspiracies thrive because people prefer simple explanations to complex sport realities.

“I think that if it was tennis, I swear to God, they’d be saying they’re giving the bloke the wrong racket or something,” he said. “It’s just rubbish.”

Jones Calls Out the Usual Suspects

Jones reserved some of his sharpest criticism for self-appointed pundits stirring the pot online.

“Then you get all the rare experts coming out of the woodwork, with their opinions on this, that and the other thing. Half of them wouldn’t know one end of a car from another but they’re free to give their advice whether it’s needed or not. It’s just nonsense.”

In Jones’ view, the situation is simple: McLaren have two elite drivers, equal equipment, and a title fight on their hands. Everything else is utter nonsense.

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