Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, would rather see Max Verstappen take the title again this season than prematurely issue team orders and have to choose between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. The American made this statement in response to criticism of the team’s lack of decisiveness.
In the first seven races of the season, his drivers are mainly taking points from each other. Last weekend in Imola, Max Verstappen won the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. Lando Norris came second, ahead of World Championship leader Oscar Piastri.
Brown emphasized afterwards that he does not want to make a choice yet and is not worried about the additional risks in the drivers’ championship that critics say this would entail. “I feel good about it, because the other scenario is: how do you take a driver out of the championship who is competing for the championship? That’s not good at all.”
Zak Brown: “If you have a second driver who is not competing for the championship, then I understand that you make a choice. Sacrificing Yuki Tsunoda’s qualification because he gives Max a tow or whatever. That’s an easy decision to make. But if you have two drivers who are first and second in the championship and are separated by less than one second place, how can you consider giving one of them a supporting role? We’re just not going to do that.”
‘Max gets 110 percent support’
“In terms of the drivers’ championship, you could say that Max has 110 percent support at Red Bull,” Zak Brown continues. “So he probably gets a few extra points because he has a teammate who supports him, while our guys can take points from each other. That’s exactly what happened in 2007 when we didn’t win the championship. Hopefully our car is so good this year that they are fighting each other for the title in the last race and they haven’t taken so many points from each other that Max or someone else takes the title. But if that’s the case, then the one who wins the drivers’ championship has done better.”
According to Brawn, the vision of equal treatment has the support of both Norris and Piastri. “Our drivers are not asking for favoritism, they are asking for fairness and that’s what they get. I think they feel very comfortable; may the best man win. Our drivers have both said they want to win the championship by beating everyone, including their teammate. The best way to let the drivers decide who comes first and second is to treat them completely, fairly and transparently.”
