McLaren CEO Zak Brown has stated that his team will not change their approach to the internal title fight between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. With twelve races remaining this season, the McLaren drivers are far ahead of the rest of the field in the drivers’ championship. However, Brown has given the two teammates the freedom to determine who will ultimately take the title, as long as the competition remains fair.
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are currently standing alone at the top of the drivers’ championship as numbers one and two respectively. The third place, Max Verstappen, is 61 World Championship points behind Norris, while there is only an eight-point difference between the McLaren teammates themselves. At this point, it strongly appears that the World Cup will be going to Woking, but which of the two McLaren drivers will come out on top in the end?
According to CEO Zak Brown, Piastri and Norris should primarily sort out the latter themselves. McLaren has no intention of maintaining the so-called Papaya rules, the most important of which is that there should be no on-track contact between the two drivers. “The rules are still the same,” Brown explains to the media. “Race hard against each other, race fair against each other, and try to score as many points as possible for the team. Then it’s up to them to decide who’s ahead.”
‘Will Remain Good Teammates’
Only in Canada has there been a real issue between Piastri and Norris so far. The Brit attempted to overtake his Australian teammate for fourth place in the final stages of the race, but instead collided with the rear of Piastri’s MCL39. Norris was subsequently out of the race. However, the incident hasn’t significantly altered the relationship between the two, reveals Brown.
“Their relationship is fantastic. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into building our team and the chemistry within the team, and that starts with the drivers,” the American explains. “How they handled Canada, how they behaved, I see no reason why they can’t have a great battle to the end. May the best win and I’m sure they’ll shake hands and congratulate each other. Of course, they both want to win, but I see no reason why, given their personalities and the way they race, they can’t remain good teammates.”
