McLaren CEO Brown clarifies: 'This is not how Norris wants to be champion'

McLaren remains cautious about team orders

Brown refers to statements made by Ron Dennis, who was at the helm of McLaren for decades, including during the dominant era with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in the late 1980s. "It was the team's job to win the Constructors' Championship and the drivers' job to win the Drivers' Championship. So that's what we're doing," said the 52-year-old American.

That said, he does express his full support for Norris, who is getting closer to Verstappen in the drivers' standings. "But anything we can now do to help Lando, we'll do that, [including] strategically. We don't want to obviously compromise Oscar's results, because he's having an awesome season and has a battle of his own. But if there's things that we can do that support Lando, that's what we'll do," Brown stressed to Sky Sports.

The McLaren CEO says it is also situation-dependent: "We're taking it on kind of a race-by-race basis. But we've got two great drivers that are capable of winning races, so it's a fine line. The papaya rules is, know who your teammate is, help your teammate, race your teammate hard but plainly."

Brown: 'Hard to hand over a win'

Brown holds off somewhat when asked what McLaren would do if Piastri is driving in the lead with Norris behind him in second place. "Ultimately, that'll be Andrea's call. I think handing off a race win is a pretty difficult thing to do, so you kind of have to look at the circumstances," he said.

"I think that's a pretty big ask of a Grand Prix driver. And I think Lando wants to win the championship if he can, the right way. So I think we still have a lot of racing to go. I have to look at the circumstances, but I think if Oscar goes out and earns it, I'm not sure Lando wants to inherit a victory that way anyways," Brown concluded.

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton