Zak Brown makes 'elephant' claim over controversial McLaren team orders

McLaren chief Zak Brown has defended the team's decision not to impose team orders on Oscar Piastri in Qatar, using an elephant to explain the discussions which have taken place.

Piastri comes into the weekend 24 points behind team-mate and title leader Lando Norris, but equal on points with Max Verstappen, who has all the momentum after clawing his way back into contention.

Had Norris and Piastri not been disqualified in Las Vegas, Norris would have held a 30-point lead over Piastri and a 42-point advantage over Verstappen to make his title ambitions easier.

Given the increasing threat of Verstappen, the idea of McLaren insisting Piastri play second-fiddle to Norris had been a possibility, with the Australian detailing ahead of the Qatar GP that brief discussions had taken place.

However, team orders are not in place for the Qatar weekend, as Brown explained, McLaren's open discussions, including the "elephant in the room."

"We have two drivers that can leave this race leading the world championship, so how do you do anything other than give both drivers an equal opportunity to try and lead the championship?" Brown told Sky Sports F1. 

"If we get to a situation where one can make it happen in Abu Dhabi, then of course, we'll ask one driver to help the other, but whilst we have two guys that can go into Abu Dhabi as the championship leader, it is absolutely crazy to do anything other than let them race in Qatar.

"We talk about everything, and that's one of the reasons why we have such a great working relationship with our drivers, Andrea, myself and the whole team, is that we just talk about topics.

"We don't hide from them, we don't pretend they [don't exist], and when the elephant comes into the room, we talk about the elephant.

"We talk about it, and we're not shy. We're straight-talking, and it is very clear that we've got two guys who can win this championship, and we're not going to do anything differently until the situation is different."