McLaren introduce special Lando Norris-Oscar Piastri rules for F1 title decider

The season finale in Abu Dhabi marks the end of the title fight that has been simmering between the McLaren drivers, and more recently, Max Verstappen.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are looking to end the weekend as McLaren's first champion since 2008, while Verstappen is seeking to upset McLaren's party.

As they look to fend off the threat posed by Verstappen, McLaren will not change anything regarding the rules of engagement of their drivers.

In fact, the drivers will have complete independence to play their own cards, as RacingNews365 understands there will not be any exchange of set-up data between the two drivers.

After the Qatar race, several simulations were run at the Woking factory, including the dynamic simulation to determine the two basic set-ups chosen by the drivers and the possible variations to optimise them.

A factor that is different from previous races, however, is that an effort to avoid giving either driver any advantage, all data from the dynamic test bench and the simulator have been kept deliberately separate, and provided only to the respective race engineers.

It has also been decided that this approach will be maintained throughout the weekend - or at least, until the set-up for qualifying is finalised. 

There will therefore be no technical exchanges at all during the technical briefings, which will be held completely separately in the team's hospitality with their own engineers. 

This kind of rule has never been introduced at McLaren before, but the team has a clear reason: to provide both drivers with the best conditions to get the most out of their own cars.

In terms of team orders, RacingNews365 understands there will be no interventions after the start of the race, and this will remain the case if - and only if - Piastri is not in a position to win the championship in the final stint.

McLaren is keen to give both of its drivers enough opportunity to seal the title this weekend - but it is unafraid to make a call late in the race in order to ensure it ends the season with the drivers' championship in hand.