Zak Brown says outsiders are trying to ‘create drama’ between Oscar Piastri and McLaren

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Zak Brown says McLaren’s relationship with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri is ‘awesome’. For the first time since 2007, the Woking outfit have had to manage two drivers going for the title.

So far, they are succeeding. McLaren won the constructors’ easily – they still had six rounds to spare – and they’ve recently strengthened their grip on the drivers’ title race too.

Heading into the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend, Norris leads Piastri by 24 points. The race has swung dramatically towards the Briton in recent rounds.

Piastri was in control just after the summer break, but a 58-point swing has made him the clear outsider before the final triple-header.

Zak Brown dismisses attempts to ‘poison’ his relationship with Oscar Piastri

There are some fans and F1 personalities who believe that McLaren have favoured Norris this season, contributing to his likely championship success against Piastri.

McLaren’s team orders in Monza and the lack of them in Singapore are taken as the main examples of this alleged bias. But it should be stressed that Piastri has never said anything to support these theories.

Piastri did hint he was distracted by the controversy at the Azerbaijan GP, where he crashed twice. But Brown says his bond with the team is as strong as ever.

Speaking on the Pivot Podcast, Brown reflected on the online furore over Piastri appearing to ignore him after the race in Singapore. This, he says, showed that outsiders are trying to manufacture tension.

“The relationship with the drivers and the team is awesome,” the CEO said. “So many people are trying to create drama. I didn’t know Oscar unplugged the radio when I was talking to him, and then I didn’t see all the media noise around it. He came to me and let me know. We’re such a tight team.

“Andrea [Stella], our team principal, calls it poisoned biscuits. Everyone’s trying to throw politics into the team to disrupt us and it just doesn’t work.”

‘A lot of people thought we were crazy’ – Zak Brown’s message to his critics

Brown says he’d congratulate Max Verstappen if the Red Bull driver snatches the title. He has emphatically rejected calls to install a driver hierarchy, which would theoretically minimise the chance of that happening.

Last year, Brown hit out at critics ‘on the couch’ when McLaren were hesitant to prioritise Norris’ title bid.

He feels the papaya squad’s principles are still misunderstood, even though the team are closing in on a championship double.

He said: “We’re doing now right now – knock on wood, three races to go – what a lot of people were like, ‘You’re crazy.’ Number one, number two, that’s not how we go racing.

“How do I tell one of my drivers when they’re both world championship drivers, ‘You’re going to be second fiddle?’ That relationship’s over!”

One of McLaren’s main motivations in maintaining parity is keeping both of their drivers, having already tied the coveted duo down to long-term contracts.