![\"Max](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/d511c0dd97f86d43475a359a3eefa552bc6f4fcf.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nThe team have already won the constructors\u2019 title for the second year in a row but have not won both championships in the same year since 1998.<\/p>\n
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown said the team would rather lose the championship by a point than favour one of their drivers against Red Bull\u2019s Verstappen. <\/p>\n
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Max Verstappen is closing in on the leaders.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Verstappen, chasing his fifth title in a row, is 36 points off the pace and closing in after slashing the gap from 104 at the end of August while McLaren\u2019s pair have taken points from each other.<\/p>\n
The Dutch driver\u2019s return to contention has reminded some of the 2007 season won by Ferrari\u2019s Kimi Raikkonen, who finished strongly and ended up beating McLaren\u2019s Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso by one point.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re well aware of 2007,\u201d Brown told Formula One\u2019s Beyond the Grid podcast on Thursday. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got two drivers who want to win the world championship. We\u2019re playing offence; we\u2019re not playing defence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d rather go \u2018We did the best we can and our drivers tied on points and the other guy beat us by one\u2019 than the alternative.<\/p>\n
![\"Piastri](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1a85702921173ad89acdbde3859de2432f3a0ad4.jpeg\")
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Piastri is interviewed by Sky\u2019s David Croft at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is telling one of our drivers right now, when they\u2019re one point away from each other, \u2018I know you have a dream to win the world championship, but we flipped a coin and you don\u2019t get to do it this year\u2019. Forget it. That\u2019s not how we go racing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norris has beaten Piastri in the past five races, a situation that has fuelled the conspiracy theories. <\/p>\n
Jos Verstappen, himself an ex-F1 racer, stirred the pot by telling Dutch media that Piastri should stand up for himself. <\/p>\n
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\u201cI find it quite strange what\u2019s happening at McLaren,\u201d Verstappen told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. \u201cPiastri can\u2019t have suddenly forgotten how to drive, right? If I were him, or his manager [Mark Webber], I\u2019d bang my fist on the table internally at least once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause right now everyone is wondering whether he can handle the pressure \u2013 and that\u2019s not good for your reputation. Piastri\u2019s reputation in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Piastri told reporters he was quite capable of making his point. <\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re always very open with each other in terms of what we think, whether we think things have been fair, whether we think the right decisions have been made,\u201d he said. \u201cI respect the team allowing us to both try and fight for the drivers\u2019 championship.\u201d<\/p>\n