Oscar Piastri has dismissed concerns that close friendships between Formula 1 drivers blunt their edge on track, speaking ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang. His comments follow a boys’ trip to the Malaysian island of Langkawi, taken during the gap between the Azerbaijan and Bahrain races.
The getaway came under scrutiny after McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown wrote in his book that he prefers his drivers not to be friends, since off track closeness can make them reluctant to race each other hard. Piastri was asked directly whether Brown had raised the trip with him.
Primary Source Attribution & Official Details
“No, he hasn’t,” Piastri said, when asked if Brown had spoken to him about Langkawi. The trip came together quickly between races. “It was pretty last-minute,” Piastri explained, describing how a group of drivers used the short window before Bahrain to get away from the paddock.
George Russell shared updates from the trip on his Instagram account, and the post drew a huge response from fans. Piastri joined the replies himself, writing “Cheers for picking up the bill,” a nod to Russell footing much of the group’s tab. Russell later confirmed that most of the bills had gone through him.
Piastri said the time away let him properly relax. “It was good fun just being able to switch off from racing a bit,” he said. “It’s very rare that you get so many drivers together, just spending time together away from a racetrack.”
He also explained why the drivers value time together despite being rivals every other weekend. “And at the end of the day, we’re 22 guys that love racing,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a bit tricky to talk about certain things because we are racing each other. We’ve got a lot in common that we just never really get to talk about. So it was quite nice.”
Asked about the activities, Piastri said the group spent time apart as well as together. “We all did our own separate things at points and whatever; it wasn’t like we were attached to each other for the whole time, but maybe on the go-kart track we were,” he said. “No, it was good fun, honestly, and I enjoyed it.”
Squad Impact & Tactical Context
Brown’s stance in his book reflects a view shared by some team principals: that drivers who get too close off track may hesitate to race each other wheel to wheel for position. Oscar Piastri’s answers suggest he sees no such risk among the current grid, even as the season moves into its final stretch.
Piastri has shown no sign of easing off since Baku, where he impressed with qualifying third in Baku before facing his Baku lock-up criticism for a mistake in the race itself. Neither result points to a driver softened by time spent with rivals away from the circuit.
The relevant point for McLaren is simpler. Nothing in Piastri’s account suggests the Langkawi break will cost the team any racing edge heading into Bahrain, whatever Brown’s personal preference on friendships within the paddock.
What Happens Next / Upcoming Timeline
Attention now turns to the Bahrain Grand Prix, the next round after the Malaysian break. Piastri goes into the weekend looking to build on a season that has already included a difficult race test, and by the time he spoke to reporters, Brown still had not raised the Langkawi trip with him directly.
For now, Piastri appears unconcerned by his boss’s stated preference on driver friendships. The Motorsport.com report that first carried his comments shows an Oscar Piastri relaxed about mixing with rivals off track, provided nothing changes once the lights go out at the next race.
