Helmut Marko tipped his hat to McLaren’s no-team-orders policy — then immediately stamped a use-by date on it.
The Red Bull advisor praised the decision to let Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris fight on equal terms, but only because, in his view, McLaren can afford it right now. When the margins shrink, he warned, that sort of sportsmanship turns into a strategic handicap.
McLaren has built enough of a cushion in the championship that the Constructors’ title looks on course to be wrapped up well before the finale. The Drivers’ fight, though, is a straight intramural duel. Momentum has swung between the two papaya cars all year, Piastri nudging ahead in the standings while Norris has often carried the outright lap-time edge. It’s exactly the kind of balance teams usually try to manage — and exactly what McLaren refuses to touch.
Zak Brown hasn’t blinked. He’s said he’d rather risk the Drivers’ crown altogether than tell one of his drivers to play rear-gunner while both remain in the hunt. That stance has won applause from plenty of neutrals — and, interestingly, from Marko himself.
“As long as you are so dominant, you can stay ahead without team orders,” Marko told F1 Insider. “It’s very sporting that they haven’t used them yet. But when things get tighter, it’s certainly a disadvantage if two top drivers take points away from each other. With the lead they have, they’re not risking anything.”
It’s a philosophical split-screen with Red Bull. Milton Keynes has long nailed its colours to Max Verstappen’s mast; he’s the undisputed spearhead. McLaren’s approach is egalitarian by design. The question, inevitably, is whether the eventual McLaren champion gets that Verstappen-style status next year — or whether the team keeps letting them trade blows.
Marko didn’t wade into that, but he did pick a side in the current head-to-head. In his eyes, Piastri is the cooler hand across a season. “Piastri has the nerve, is more consistent, and always gets the best out of himself,” he said, adding that Norris “may be faster per lap, but overall I see Piastri ahead.” He’s also bullish on Piastri’s trajectory — the rough edges of last year now smoothed — while maintaining the obvious caveat: Verstappen remains Verstappen, the benchmark everyone still has to meet.
For now, McLaren can afford to let this play out on merit. If the gap to the rest tightens, the romanticism of equal footing may collide with the cold math of a championship run-in. Until then, enjoy the rarest sight in modern F1: a title fight with no pit-wall strings attached.
