Lando Norris humorously replied to being asked if he was concerned McLaren would prioritise Oscar Piastri over him to ensure winning the F1 drivers' championship this season.
Max Verstappen's re-emergence as an — albeit distant — title contender has put the papaya team-mates under unexpected pressure as the campaign heads to its conclusion.
Norris trails the Australian by 25 points, but Verstappen's recent run of form has reenergised the sentiment that he could be a dark horse in pursuit of a fifth consecutive crown.
Upgrades to the Red Bull RB21 have seen it close the performance gap to the dominant McLaren MCL39, and the 28-year-old has immediately taken advantage.
Victories in Monza and Baku have slashed the Dutchman's deficit to Piastri in the standings from 104 points to 69 with seven rounds remaining. He is 44 points behind Norris.
However, the Woking-based squad has shown zero interest in backing either one of its drivers, despite the Red Bull driver closing in.
Team principal Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown have long championed their 'two number one drivers' stance and reluctantly turned to team orders last year as Norris tried to close the gap to Verstappen in the title fight.
This year, any team orders invoked have been to ensure parity between the McLaren drivers, and there is no indication that the revived threat of Verstappen will change that approach.
So when asked ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix if he felt McLaren would have to prioritise one driver over the other to get the drivers' championship over the line, and if he was "concerned" that could be him, he took the opportunity to light-heartedly dismiss any such notion.
Speaking to media, including RacingNews365, Norris sarcastically replied: "I'm very concerned, yup.
"Very worried about it. Yeah, I'm scared, frankly, so I was happy you asked that, actually... um, no!"
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