McLaren have a conundrum: When, and how, will they decide which of the drivers of their 600-horsepower beasts will take top billing at season’s end?
Just nine points separate Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the drivers’ championship. Their next-closest competitor, Max Verstappen, is 88 points behind Norris.
Brown and McLaren have been reluctant to choose a favourite child. Instead, they’ve implemented what they call ‘Papaya rules’, a team strategy that allows the two drivers to race each other, and which is reviewed and discussed after qualifying on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s race.
It sounds simple, but it’s difficult to respect the rules when you’re in the heat of battle.
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The last time the title fight was this close between teammates was when Mercedes’ duo Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton battled for the 2016 championship. Once childhood friends during kart racing, the pair fell out into fierce rivalry, leading to frequent clashes and crashes on track. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff threatened suspension for any driver who caused a future collision.
McLaren has so far avoided any major unpleasantries, excluding Piastri and Norris’ run-in at the Canadian Grand Prix, but the two are on a collision course, and as the season finale in Abu Dhabi draws closer, it feels inevitable tensions will start to boil over.
Brown conceded as much when talking to reporters at the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of the mid-season break.
“There’s competitiveness brewing. As the championship builds, I’m sure that tension will grow,” Brown said.
“We’re fully anticipating them swapping paint again at some point. I’m very confident it won’t be deliberate, which is where you then get into the problems. They will have racing incidents. Here at McLaren, we know that, and they know that, so we’re not afraid of that.