Zak Brown has warned McLaren not to become "too comfortable" at the top of the F1 constructors' championship.
McLaren currently has a 41-point cushion over Red Bull at the top of the standings after recently deposing the reigning champions to end its continuous 55-race lead.
The McLaren CEO, however, is wary that with six races remaining - including three sprints - anything can happen, and is far from ruling Red Bull out of the fight.
The Milton Keynes-based team is expected to introduce an upgrade package for the next race in the United States. If it proves successful, the balance of power could again shift.
Brown recognises his team must maintain its approach of focusing on one race at a time, a mantra previously installed by team principal Andrea Stella.
"We do just have to focus one race at a time," Brown said. "Every time I talk to Andrea about how we're going to go at a track, he's yet to say, 'We're going to win this race'.
"He's quite conservative, feet on the ground, just so we continue pushing. At the start of the year, I was certainly thinking Max is going to win 24 races.
"Now he's not won in eight races. So we know how quickly things can change in six, seven races, a lot to go, so we need to make sure we don't get too comfortable."
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No McLaren concerns
McLaren's MCL38 has proven to be strong at every type of circuit, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri winning in Miami, Hungary, Zandvoort, Azerbaijan and Singapore.
Norris' dominance, in particular in Singapore, stunned Verstappen and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who described the Briton's victory as "extraordinary".
Ahead of the final six races of the season, McLaren does not have any concerns about the car potentially not performing, with confidence being high.
When asked if any of the remaining races worry McLaren, Brown answered: "None that worry us, other than just generally worrying going into every race weekend. But I think that keeps us on our toes.
"There are some tracks that we think we will be better at than others, but none where we think we're not going to be strong now that we've won on every type of circuit.
"We feel pretty confident with our car."
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It has been a year since Max Verstappen won his third F1 title - with six grands prix to spare. Now Verstappen is in a fight this year, and with Red Bull under pressure to deliver him a car to retain his crown. Join RacingNews365's Ian, Sam and Nick as they discuss this and more ahead of the final six races.
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