Zak Brown reveals he rather Max Verstappen claim the championship than favour a driver in McLaren

McLaren CEO Zak Brown made a staggering statement about the future of Papaya rules and how it will influence the Championship. The American revealed he would rather see Max Verstappen secure the championship than have to decide to prioritise one driver at McLaren.

Zak Brown in Austin. Photo credit: F1

Oscar Piastri has led the Driver Standings since his victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in April, with Lando Norris closely behind in second. The term ‘Papaya Rules’ has become a significant and controversial phenomenon in Formula 1 this season. 

The leadership in McLaren justified some of its difficult decisions, such as instructing Piastri to let Norris ahead after the Briton suffered a slow pit stop in Monza, all in an effort to wrap up the Constructor’s Championship, which the team did in Singapore. 

Since then, the drivers have been free to race each other. A couple of tough weekends for Piastri provided an opening for Norris to capitalise, who now leads the standings by one singular point heading into the final four races. 

While the battle between the Papayas has been happening at the front, lurking behind has been Verstappen. The Dutchman, who was on the back foot for the opening half of the season, bounced back, securing two significant victories in Monza and Azerbaijan. Austin proved to be another jubilant weekend for the four-time champion, claiming victory in the Sprint and Race, closing the gap down to 40 points. 

Ahead of the São Paulo Grand Prix, Brown was asked, how he would react if Verstappen clinched the title:

"I shake his hand and say, 'Job well done'.

"I want to make sure if we don’t win, he beats us. We don’t beat ourselves. That’s important. 

"We're well aware of 2007. Two drivers are tied on points; one gets in the front. But we've got two drivers who want to win the world championship. We're playing offence; we're not playing defence.”

In 2007, two McLaren drivers were once again fighting for the championship: Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Unlike today, in regards to team orders, Alonso and Hamilton had a strained relationship; the battle between the pair heightened, opening the door for Kimi Raikkonen to reignite his championship campaign. The Finn came from 17 points behind (there was a different point system in place back then, with the winner of a race only awarded ten points) and in the final four races, took the lead of the championship and won. Brown uses this example to explain how he’d prefer for Verstappen to win the championship if a scenario came down to picking a driver to win the title:

"I'd rather go - 'we did the best we could with our drivers tied in points, and the other beat us by one,' than the alternative - telling one of our drivers right now, when they're one point apart, 'I know you have a dream to win the world championship, but we flipped a coin and you don't get to do it this year.' Forget it!

"That's not how we go racing. If 2007 happens again, I'd rather have that outcome than any other that involves playing favourites - we won't do it."

An opportunity to get the upper hand will be present in Brazil, with the penultimate Sprint race taking place. Could one of the McLaren’s increase their lead or will Verstappen surprise the Papaya’s once again?