29/07/2025 09:15
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has dismissed the suggestion that the
atmosphere at the team has shifted as the F1 drivers' championship
fight intensifies. With Max Verstappen falling back, the battle is
thinning to a two-horse race between Oscar Piastri and Lando
Norris. 13 rounds into the 24-weekend calendar, the Australian
leads his team-mate by just 16 points, in a campaign that looks set
to go down to the wire. However, Brown does not see any difference
between how his two drivers are operating internally as a result of
the escalating tension of their shared championship charge. McLaren
has long maintained it has "two number one drivers", an ethos that
ensures parity between the pair for as long as it can sustain -
likely the entirety of the season, given Verstappen is increasingly
becoming a non-factor. It has also boasted a strong relationship
between Norris and Piastri, and has managed the duo well alongside
one another. The former colliding with the latter at the Canadian
Grand Prix was swiftly and effectively dealt with, and there have
been no negative downstream implications for the Briton's mistake.
Even when Piastri was penalised at Silverstone, the Woking-based
squad sought to handle the situation in the fairest possible way,
which both the 24-year-old and Norris appeared completely onboard
with. But as the pressure ramps up, emotions are broadly expected
to spill over at some point or for relations between the two
drivers to become strained, even if McLaren's strategy endures.
Nonetheless, Brown insists he is yet to see that from either Norris
or Piastri, even though he does anticipate the "stress" of the
fight will grow as the second half of the season unfolds. When it
was put to him that a "change" had been detected, the 53-year-old
waved away any such concerns. "I think they clearly smell that both
of them have a chance of being world champions this year, so
they're always serious," the American told Sky Sports F1 . "I've
not noticed any kind of difference between the two of them, but I'm
sure as it ramps up and gets closer, the stress will get a little
bit higher, but the relationship between the two of them and the
team is just awesome."
