Brown reveals McLaren 'secret weapon' in Red Bull hunt

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has revealed that Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are the team's "secret weapon", with the outfit currently being the strongest on the grid. 

The Woking-based team has enjoyed a tremendous season and is applying the pressure on Red Bull for the constructors' championship. Just 42 points separate Red Bull and McLaren with 10 races remaining. 

An advantage for McLaren is that both Norris and Piastri have won a race this campaign, a statisitic Red Bull are unable to claim as Sergio Perez remains without a victory. 

Despite Piastri and Norris both performing strongly, management has been required, with Norris having initially disobeyed team orders briefly in Hungary. 

Norris was instructed to return the race lead to Piastri in the closing stages, something which took several stern radio messages from the team to make happen with three laps remaining.

The incident somewhat overshadowed Piastri's maiden win, although Brown believes it is a significant strength that both of its drivers have won a race now this season.

"Yeah, 100% that both drivers have won races this year," Brown told Sky Sports F1. "They always drive for the team, they've been fantastic. 

"If you go back to 2021 when we finished first and second, I think Lando had a good shot at Daniel. 

"But that situation was let's keep it where it is, so we're always racing together as a team. I think our drivers are our secret weapon."

Brown wants both titles

As mentioned, McLaren is hunting Red Bull down in the constructors' standings and could overhaul the Milton Keynes-based team within a couple of races after the summer break concludes. 

It is a slightly different picture in the drivers' championship, as Max Verstappen leads Norris by a healthy 78 points. 

With this margin, Verstappen could miss three races which follow the traditional F1 format, and return at worst level on points in the lead. 

Despite this, Brown is not wanting McLaren to focus on just the constructors' standings, with the British team continuing to have both titles on its radar.

"They are both priorities, because ultimately to win the constructors' we need our two drivers to be as high up as possible," outlined Brown. 

"I'd like to see both drivers in the top three. We've got second and fourth right now, and the closer we get to the drivers', the closer that'll get us to the constructors'. 

"So we're going for both because all points count."