McLaren declare Max Verstappen 'too close for comfort' as F1 driver vow made

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has admitted Max Verstappen is “too close for comfort” in the drivers' championship.

Despite his looming presence in the battle, Brown asserted McLaren will not seek to favour one of its drivers in the fight.

Verstappen has cut the gap to championship leader Oscar Piastri to 40 points - a margin that sat at 104 points just four rounds ago.

With five rounds remaining in the campaign, Brown highlighted that McLaren is taking Verstappen's late-season surge very seriously.

“I think we [take it] one race at a time,” Brown told media including RacingNews365.

“I’ve been asked a lot to predict the future. I think where we’re sitting right now is Max is too close for comfort. 

“Lando is one win, Oscar one DNF away. We saw what happened in Holland, how quickly things can change.”

McLaren has consistently asserted it will not look to prioritise one driver in an effort to keep Verstappen at bay in the final rounds.

Just 14 points separate Piastri and Lando Norris in the championship as both aim to secure their maiden titles - a scenario McLaren is unwilling to interfere with.

“We'll continue to evaluate on a race-by-race basis, if we get to a situation,” he said.

“That’s what we did last year in Baku to start helping Lando - then what ends up happening is Oscar goes and wins the race and Lando helps him. 

“So this is a pretty unpredictable sport. But where we sit right now, we're going to give both drivers equal opportunity to try and win the drivers' championship.”