McLaren CEO Zak Brown has firmly rejected speculation that his team would favor either Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris in the fight for this year’s world championship crown. He made it clear that Max Verstappen was “too close” to even consider such prioritization.
Some experts, including Mario Andretti, had previously expressed suspicion that McLaren would give preference to Lando Norris and support him in the duel against his teammate Piastri. However, Brown strongly denied these statements.
The 53-year-old emphasized that favoring one driver does not correspond to the mentality of the team. As an example, he referred to last season, in which McLaren only began to specifically support Norris in the fight against Verstappen from the 17th race in Baku – a race that Piastri, of all people, ultimately won.
McLaren: Things can change quickly
Brown emphasized that the current approach should be maintained because Verstappen is still considered a serious title contender. He recalled Norris’ unfortunate retirement at the Dutch Grand Prix, when a technical problem ruined his chances of victory.
“We’re taking it race by race,” explained Brown at the US Grand Prix in Austin. “I’m often asked to predict the future. But in our current situation, Max is just too close. Lando is one win, Oscar one loss away from everything shifting.”
“We saw in the Netherlands how quickly things can change. So we are concentrating on this weekend and getting our two drivers to 1st and 2nd place.” For Brown, it doesn’t currently matter who wins the race.
Nevertheless, he admitted: “We will assess the situation on a race-by-race basis,” leaving open the possibility that the dynamics could change in the coming weeks. “That’s exactly what we did in Baku last year when we started supporting Lando and in the end Oscar wins the race.”
“This sport is extremely unpredictable and in our current situation we will give both drivers an equal chance to win the Drivers’ World Championship,” said the McLaren CEO, making it clear that there is currently no preference for one driver.