Martin Brundle not convinced by the promise Zak Brown has made to Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris

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Zak Brown has promised that McLaren won’t interfere in the F1 title fight by imposing team orders. Max Verstappen has emerged as the third championship contender alongside Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

With Verstappen 35 points behind, McLaren could theoretically maximise their chances of winning the drivers’ title by backing one horse. Last season, Piastri had to move over for Norris twice when he tried to hunt down the Red Bull driver.

But this time around, Brown says he’s willing to lose the championship in order to uphold McLaren’s racing principles. That means giving both drivers the fairest possible opportunity to compete.

“I’d rather we did the best we can and our drivers tied on points and the other guy beat us by one, than the alternative, which is telling one of our drivers right now, who are one point away from each other, ‘I know you have a dream to win the world championship, but we’ve flipped the coin and you don’t get to do it this year.’ Forget it, that’s not how we go racing.”

Martin Brundle sure that McLaren will implement team orders if Max Verstappen is ‘on their gearbox’

Before FP1 at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle addressed Brown’s comments. He says, if they needed to invert their cars in the Abu Dhabi finale to beat Verstappen, they wouldn’t hesitate.

“They swap it, of course. We need to remember that McLaren have dominated the last two constructors’ championships, so whatever Zak and Andrea are doing, they’re doing it right, and they’ve got two drivers at the front of the drivers’ championship this year.”

While Brundle ‘admires’ Brown’s approach, he says it will naturally change if a significant gap opens up between the two drivers and Verstappen slots into it.

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“They’ve had some uncomfortable moments I think they would have played a different way in hindsight, but whatever they’re doing generally is working,” he said. “I do admire that they’re not going to say, ‘Well, you’re one point ahead, so the other guy is going to have to give up the championship.’

“But that’s with four events to go and one point in it. If there’s one or two events to go and 20 points in it, and Max is on their gearbox, of course they’ll take a different decision.”

Juan Pablo Montoya thinks McLaren could lose one of their drivers before 2027, particularly if they’re no longer dominant in F1’s new era. Keeping both is their top priority.

McLaren don’t need to worry – Oscar Piastri would help Lando Norris if he had to

Verstappen’s rivals are sceptical about his title chances, according to Alex Jacques, so McLaren will hope that the team orders debate fizzles out.

David Croft says McLaren must be ruthless, but given how small the margin between the two drivers is, it’d be extremely difficult to choose which one deserves priority. While the momentum is clearly with Norris right now, the outlook could change entirely in Brazil.

When he fought Lewis Hamilton for the 2007 crown, Fernando Alonso felt McLaren were against him. Whatever one makes of those accusations, the team’s culture these days is completely different.

If the aforementioned Abu Dhabi scenario plays out, Norris and Piastri may recognise the need to play the team game. They’ve complied with every instruction that has been issued, though this would be the most painful yet.