McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has said he would rather Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri — and the Woking-based squad — be on the receiving end of a 2007 repeat than "playing favourites" between the two drivers.
The American insists the constructors' champions will not throw its weight behind either, even if it means Max Verstappen ultimately snatches the title, taking a defiant, principled stance — a resolve set to endure, even if faced with mounting pressure.
Currently, just one point separates Norris and Piastri in the standings, which would make giving one preferential treatment essentially impossible with 116 points still available over the final four rounds of the F1 season.
Despite the looming threat of Verstappen, McLaren's stand is strengthened by the Red Bull driver being 36 points behind Norris, who finds himself in the role of the hunted in the championship fight for the first time in 15 rounds.
Whilst the Dutchman is undoubtedly in with a shout, he still has considerable ground to make up if he is to win a fifth-consecutive F1 drivers' crown.
However, McLaren's position of neutrality is not predicated on the specifics of the title battle, and Brown and team principal Andrea Stella have long stressed the importance of parity between Norris and Piastri, maintaining that both are 'number one' drivers.
Speaking on F1's Beyond the Grid podcast, the former addressed the potential reality of Verstappen stealing the title away from McLaren's grasp.
When asked how he would respond to that happening, the 53-year-old replied: "I shake his hand and say, 'Job well done'.
"I want to make sure if we don’t win, he beats us. We don’t beat ourselves. That’s important.
"We’re well aware of 2007. Two drivers tied on points, one gets in the front. But you know, we’ve got two drivers who want to win the world championship. We’re playing offence. We’re not playing defence."
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Brown on favouritism at McLaren: 'Forget it'
Brown's reference to 2007 is pertinent. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were comfortably in control of the title equation that campaign.
Although team orders and supporting one over the other would not have been possible due to the fraught and ill-mannered relationship between the pair, something that proved toxic throughout the team at the time, the infighting opened the door to Kimi Raikkonen.
The Ferrari driver came from a significant way back over the final four rounds of the year to clinch his one and only F1 drivers' championship that year.
Nonetheless, risking a repeat is the lesser of two evils for McLaren, with Brown adamant he would rather that transpire than either Norris or Piastri's triumph be contingent on favouritism.
"And I’d rather go, we did the best we can on our drivers tied in points and the other beat us by one, than the alternative which is telling one of our drivers right now, when they’re one point away from each other, I know you have a dream to win the world championship but we flipped the coin and you don’t get to do it this year. Forget it," he added.
"That’s not how we go racing. In the event that 2007 happens again, I’d rather have that outcome than all the other outcomes by playing favourites. We won’t do it."
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