McLaren boss Zak Brown has claimed teammates and championship contenders Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will not “fall out” over the result of their title battle.
Fourteen races into the Formula 1 season, Piastri tops the drivers’ standings with a nine-point advantage over Norris.
The gap between the pair has not exceeded 23 points since the opening race of the season in Melbourne, when Norris took victory and Piastri finished in ninth place.
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McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri chat after the Italian Grand Prix. Getty
The team has won 11 grands prix this year, with Piastri having triumphed on six of those occasions. However, Norris has the momentum going into F1’s mid-year break after claiming victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
McLaren is letting Piastri and Norris race freely this season, believing their rivalry will be beneficial to the team as long as they stay respectful and professional.
“I don’t think they’ll properly fall out because of the communication, trust and respect we all have, and they have for each other,” Brown said.
“We’re very fortunate to have the two personalities that we have. We love the challenge. I’m looking forward to them racing each other.”
While Brown trusts his drivers to be hard but fair racers, he expects more close calls on track as the season hurtles towards the chequered flag.
“I’ve said to both of them individually, at windows of opportunity, has your teammate ever done anything to annoy you? ‘Never’, and that’s what they both said,” Brown said.
Lando Norris, Zak Brown and Oscar Piastri after the Chinese Grand Prix. Bryn Lennon/Formula 1 via Getty Images
“So there’s competitiveness brewing. We’re not feeling any tension. As the championship builds, I’m sure that tension will grow, but like Montreal, I’m glad we got it out of the way, because it was a non-event. Lando owned it, Oscar understood, it was a mistake.”
During June’s Canadian Grand Prix, Norris clipped the back of Piastri while attempting to pass for fourth place with three laps remaining.
Norris subsequently took full responsibility for the crash, admitting he had misjudged the distance to Piastri.
While Brown admitted a similar incident could happen again, he was “very confident” that it would not be committed deliberately.
“I’m positive they’re never going to run each other off the track, and that’s where you get into bad blood,” he said.
With a battle for the lead with six laps remaining at the Hungaroring on Monday (AEST), Piastri made several attempts to overtake Norris.
On the penultimate lap, and with one roll of the dice left, the Australian dove into turn one but locked up, just avoiding a collision with Norris, who left room on the inside.
Piastri’s race engineer, Tom Stallard, was quick to caution Piastri over the team radio: “Remember how we go racing, Oscar”.
McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri battle for track position during the Hungarian Grand Prix. Joe Portlock via Getty Images
Brown was optimistic that the team would navigate any tension that arises in the same way they have managed the relationship between their two star drivers since Piastri joined the Woking-based squad in 2023.
“If something bubbles up, we’ll deal with it how we operate, which is [in] an open, transparent, deal with it right away [manner],” he said.
“It seems like from the outside looking in, when you’ve seen battles between other teammates, you’ve kind of seen it brewing, and you kind of go like, ‘Have they jumped on that, or are they just kind of letting it build up?’
“We’ll take the air out of the balloon right away, if we feel like anything’s bubbling up, but we’ve not seen any of it.”
With both Piastri and Norris signed on long-term contracts with the team, Brown stressed how important it is for the team that its pairings remain amicable.
“They’re going to be racing against each other for a long time in the same team,” he said.
“So, it’s important that [the] relationship continues to grow, because the relationship’s not just about this year, but it bleeds into next year, and they’re going to be together for a long time”.
Exactly when Piastri and Norris’ contracts will expire is not public.
Ten rounds remain when F1 resumes at the end of the month with the Dutch Grand Prix.