McLaren’s ‘if’ admission after Piastri revealed ‘very brief discussion’

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has again insisted that as long as both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, separated by 22 points, can win the World title, McLaren will not impose team orders in Qatar.

Even if it means that Max Verstappen, a long shot at 25 points off the pace and having to beat Norris on Sunday night to stay in the fight, could yet pip them both to the F1 2025 title.

Why ‘straight talking’ McLaren won’t impose team orders

Throughout the first part of this campaign, McLaren was in the position of sitting 1-2 in the Drivers’ Championship and only strengthened that after the summer break when Oscar Piastri surged 104 points clear of Verstappen while Norris, despite losing ground through a DNF, was still 70 points ahead.

The 1-2 was on, the only question was which of the teammates would win the title.

But seven races on from the Dutch Grand Prix, McLaren headed to Qatar holding onto the 1-2 with Norris leading the standings while Piastri was P1 by virtue of his seven grands prix to Verstappen’s six, the two tied on 366 points.

Saturday’s Sprint under the lights saw Piastri claim an emphatic win by five seconds ahead of George Russell with Norris in third, a further second back.

That meant the gap between the teammates was reduced to 22 points. Verstappen was fourth behind Norris, and now sits 25 points down on the Briton and three behind Piastri.

Lando Norris v Oscar Piastri: McLaren 2025 head-to-head scores

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

It means the trio all still have a shot at the championship title heading into Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix where a victory for Norris would hand McLaren its first Drivers’ title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008. Anything short of that could leave the door open for Piastri, and also Verstappen.

McLaren, though, isn’t yet at the point where it is willing to impose team orders on Piastri to ensure Verstappen is no longer in the fight as the Australian, who will line up on pole position at the Lusail International Circuit, is by no means out of the fight.

“Well, we kind of, we’re one race at a time right now,” Brown told Sky F1. “We have two drivers that can leave this race leading the World Championship.

“So how do you do anything other than give both drivers equal opportunity to try and lead the championship?

“If we get into Abu Dhabi and we get into a situation where one can’t make it happen, then of course, we’ll ask one driver to help the other.

“But while we have two guys that can go into Abu Dhabi as championship leaders, it is absolutely crazy to do anything other than let them race in Qatar.”

But while Brown says McLaren won’t do it, the team has already had the conversation with Piastri.

Speaking with the media, including PlanetF1.com, ahead of the Qatar weekend, the Australian revealed McLaren had the chat about him supporting Norris’ title bid.

He said no.

“We’ve had a very brief discussion, and the answer is no,” Piastri told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets in Qatar when asked if he’d support Norris.

“I’m still equal on points with Max and have a decent shot at still winning it if things go my way.”

Quizzed on that conversation, Brown insisted it’s just a normal part of McLaren’s conversations with the drivers as the team maintains open dialogue.

“We talk about everything, and I think that’s one of the reasons why we have such a great working relationship with our drivers, Andrea, myself and the whole team,” he said.

“We just talk about topics. We don’t hide from them. We don’t pretend they don’t…

“You know, when the elephant comes in the room, we talk about the elephant. And I’m not sure where that phrase came from, I hope that doesn’t offend elephants in today’s world.

“And so, yeah, we talked about it, and we’re not shy, and we’re straight talking.

“And, you know, it’s pretty, it’s not pretty clear it’s a very clear, we got two guys that can win this championship, so we’re not going to do anything differently until the situation is different.”

And for now it’s not, both drivers are still in the hunt as too is Verstappen.

“He’s like that guy in the horror movie that you think is down, and then all of a sudden, where’d he come from, I thought he was out!” said Brown of the Red Bull driver.

“He’s an immense talent, as good as anyone I think we’ve ever seen. I think we have to ignore him, we can’t control whether he does – easier said than done.”

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