As McLaren’s title charge heats up, team boss Zak Brown admits contact between his drivers is only a matter of time.
Tensions are rising at the sharp end of the Formula 1 grid, and McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes a clash between his two star drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, is just a matter of time.
With both drivers gunning for the 2025 world title, McLaren has found itself in the rare position of managing two race winners locked in a fierce internal battle. After the first four rounds, Norris leads the standings by just three points, having kicked off the season with a win in Australia. Piastri answered back with back-to-back victories in Bahrain and China, cementing his status as a serious contender.
So far, the pair have kept it clean on track. But Brown knows that the heat of a 24-race season can push even the best to the edge, and sometimes over it.
“I think it’s more a question of when rather than if,” Brown said when asked about the possibility of contact between his drivers. “When you’ve got two cars racing wheel-to-wheel over 24 races, sooner or later someone’s going to lock up, and there’ll be contact.”
Rather than dreading it, Brown seems almost ready to embrace the inevitable.
“In a way, I’m kind of looking forward to it happening for the first time,” he said with a smile. “It’ll grab headlines for a few days, sure. But then we’ll move on. Honestly, I don’t think it’ll be as dramatic as people imagine. It’ll just be a racing incident.”
Despite the looming tension, Brown remains confident in the maturity of his drivers.
“They’re both great characters. Neither of them is reckless, so we’re not too worried. In fact, once it happens, we’ll probably all breathe a bit easier.”
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