McLaren won’t pick a favorite. Not now, not with four rounds to go, not with Max Verstappen charging like a train behind them.
With Lando Norris leading Oscar Piastri by a single point heading into São Paulo, and Verstappen having hacked a 104-point deficit down to 36, the outside noise has grown predictably loud: split the strategies, back one horse, shut the door on Red Bull. McLaren’s answer? Thanks, but no thanks.
“We’re going to ignore them,” Zak Brown said on the Beyond the Grid podcast, pushing back on accusations the team is overmanaging a title fight it’s led all season. “We’re transparent, we’re fair… We don’t let that noise come inside the MTC.”
The team has mostly let its drivers race in 2025. Still, a couple of flashpoints fed the debate. At Monza, Piastri was told to yield to Norris after a slow stop shuffled the Brit behind; in Singapore, Norris made an early, elbows-out move on his teammate that included light contact. That brush led to internal repercussions and, notably, Piastri receiving on-track priority in qualifying next time out in Austin. It wasn’t a public wrist-slap as much as a reminder that both drivers are supposed to be treated as equals—and that McLaren will enforce the rules of engagement it’s set.
From the outside, the verdict hasn’t been unanimous. Alex Albon mused that McLaren could “easily” suffocate Verstappen’s comeback by prioritising one of their drivers. Sergio Perez was blunter, suggesting the team has been “messing around” while the reigning champion hauls himself back into contention.
Inside Woking, the view is different. Brown and team principal Andrea Stella keep repeating the same line: the playing field is level, by design. “They know they have equal opportunity to win the world championship,” Brown said. “We communicate. We’re racers. We’re not perfect—but we’re fair.”
Stella, often the calmest voice in the paddock, reached for a family analogy to swat away the “Norris bias” narrative that bubbles up every time the No. 4 car gets a call. Norris has been a McLaren lifer, graduating from its junior ranks and now into year seven with the team. Piastri arrived in 2023 and quickly made himself indispensable. Bias? Stella doesn’t buy it.
“When you are in my role, it’s like when you have two sons, and somebody says, ‘Which one is your preferred son?’” he said. “They are my two sons. The same kind of commitment to the team, all-in to the team, it did come from Oscar as well.”
If you’ve followed McLaren closely this year, you know why they’re sticking to principle. The car’s quick everywhere, but the margin to Red Bull is rarely generous, and both Norris and Piastri have been the difference-makers at different points of the season. McLaren’s logic is straightforward: let both drivers hunt the title, contain the intra-team friction, and trust that pace and process will outrun the threat.
Of course, that’s the theory. The arithmetic is less forgiving. With a one-point split at the top and Verstappen looming within striking range, one messy Sunday could shape the championship. A team’s insistence on equality can look like strength or stubbornness depending on the next chequered flag.
What we know: McLaren’s rules are set, and both drivers have signed up for them. When mistakes have happened, they’ve been acknowledged and addressed. And whatever’s said on the outside, there’s no appetite at the MTC to dismantle a dynamic that’s delivered them to the brink of both titles.
São Paulo will test the nerve. Interlagos has a way of amplifying tension—short lap, chaotic weather, and a first sector that punishes indecision. If the orange cars end up nose-to-tail again, the pit wall’s resolve to “let them race” will face another stress test. And if Red Bull finds a late-season step, McLaren will need both Norris and Piastri fully armed, not one de-powered for the sake of tidiness.
That’s the gamble they’re taking: back the pair, not the favorite. Keep the house fair and the throttle down. If it works, McLaren wins this the hard way—and the right way, in their eyes. If it doesn’t, they’ll hear about it all winter.
For now, they’re tuning out the commentary and turning up for another fight weekend with two title contenders in the same garage. That’s not a problem. It’s the point.
