Zak Brown confirms McLaren’s worst-kept secret ahead of F1 2026 season
Zak Brown, the McLaren chief executive, in the pit lane at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix
Zak Brown, the McLaren chief executive, has dropped the biggest hint yet that the team will retain its so-called ‘papaya rules’ between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the F1 2026 season.
McLaren secured its first drivers’ and constructors’ title double since 1998 this season, retaining the teams’ championship with six races to spare.
Zak Brown hints McLaren to retain ‘papaya rules’ for F1 2025 season
The Woking-based team had to wait until last weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi to secure the drivers’ title, with Norris seeing off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by two points.
Norris’s triumph saw him become the 11th British world champion and the first McLaren driver to take the crown since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
McLaren operated a policy of total fairness across the F1 2025 campaign, refraining from throwing its support behind a single driver despite Norris and Piastri both establishing healthy points leads at different stages of the season.
Lando Norris vs Oscar Piastri: McLaren head-to-head scores for F1 2025
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
The team’s philosophy was widely criticised, particularly after the penultimate race in Qatar where Piastri and Norris failed to pit under an early safety car.
Having run first and third at the time, Piastri and Norris eventually came home second and fourth respectively at Lusail after effectively missing out on a free pit stop as Verstappen took victory.
Appearing on stage at the FIA’s prize-giving gala on Friday, Brown spoke of his pride that McLaren secured both titles by keeping it fair between Norris and Piastri.
And he teased that the policy will be retained for next season, insisting it’s “exactly what we plan to do” in F1 2026.
He said: “Fantastic season.
“All the men and women at McLaren have done an unbelievable job, led by our two awesome drivers.
“Of course, the job Andrea has done leading our team.
“To go into the final race with two drivers fighting for the world championship, when everyone said that couldn’t be done, I’m just very proud of how McLaren went racing and that’s exactly what we plan to do next year.”
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Andrea Stella, the McLaren team principal, added: “The drivers are those who do the job.
“They are the ones that deliver the results, the points, the victories, the podiums, which ultimately made us the constructors’ champions.
“And also we are very, very proud of how the drivers conducted themselves, allowing McLaren to go racing.
“That’s what we do – we go racing – and we did it with equality and fairness, so thank you to Lando and Oscar.”
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