McLaren driver announcement causes stunning backlash

McLaren have caused quite a stir on social media after posting an announcement alongside one of their star Formula 1 drivers.

The papaya driver duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished the 2024 season on a high, securing the team's first constructors' championship since 1998.

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Norris stormed to victory at the season finale in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, doing exactly what was needed of him to bring championship success to McLaren.

Piastri, on the other hand, finished the Abu Dhabi GP in P10 after a collision with drivers' title holder Max Verstappen on the opening lap.

Piastri's second season in the sport was a stellar one, with his two grand prix victories and commendable sportsmanship contributing to McLaren's constructors' victory.

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Piastri announces new grand prix

As the F1 winter break continues, McLaren kept their fans entertained with a post via social media which announced a 'new grand prix', designed by Piastri using an image generator.

After prompting the generator with playful suggestions like 'moon with dogs in fairy costumes and broomsticks with lasers', the 23-year-old conjured up a poster for the non-existent event.

"The Moon Dog Grand Prix, let's make it happen," Piastri declared.

Whilst the Aussie racer seemed to be in support of the lighthearted announcement, fans took to the comments on the McLaren Instagram page to criticise the team's choice to promote the use of AI.

"Sad that you’re promoting AI and not supporting the hard working artists who create gorgeous (and frankly much better) posters for your team on social media," one user commented.

Another said: "Love you guys but let's promote real artists instead of AI please, by doing this you're supporting art theft 💔"

When the team revealed their driver's creation in a separate post, the comments continued to pour in, with McLaren facing further pushback over the concept.

Another Instagram user said: "Fans with common sense don’t support AI, and before anyone will yell at me - yes i’ve seen the video with oscar and i still think this is wrong."

While on X, one fan was not happy with the team's use of resources: "All that constructor’s championship money and you couldn’t be bothered to hire a real artist?"

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