Yesterday at 12:47
McLaren chief Zak Brown insists the team's approach has not changed
regarding team orders after Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris's fierce
Austria battle. At the Red Bull Ring, Piastri tried in vain to get,
and stay, ahead of Norris, the race after Norris collided with his
team-mate in Canada, eliminating himself whilst Piastri finished
fourth. The two nearly collided again after Piastri locked up
heavily at Turn 4, but both survived as Norris took a dominant win
to bounce back from his Montreal nightmare. McLaren has been clear
that its so-called Papaya Rules do not allow contact between the
two, something hard to manage when the drivers' title fight is
exclusively all-McLaren, something Mercedes encountered with Lewis
Hamilton and Nico Rosberg between 2014 and 2016. At the halfway
point of the season, Piastri leads by just eight points at the top
of the standings, but Brown is firm that there will not be a change
in team order directives. "No. It's the same rules," Brown told
media, including RacingNews365, if Austria's close battle would
change anything about the team's approach to team orders. "[They
can] race each other hard, race each other clean, and try and get
as many points on the board for the team. "Then it's up to them to
decide who is in front of whom." Brown also briefly touched upon
McLaren's upgrade plan for the remainder of the season, with a new
floor being trialled at Silverstone, which team principal Andrea
Stella indicated would be on the car for the Belgian GP. CEO Brown
added that the focus was now on the huge rule changes for 2026,
although the team still had "some bits" yet to be put on the car.
"Everyone's pretty much wrapping up their 2025 cars," he said. "We
still have some bits that we've developed that haven't been
produced yet or put on the car, but pretty much 2026 is the focus,
but we do have a few more updates."
