McLaren does not want a piastri-norris duel like the Hamilton-Alonso in 2007

The Woking team pilots will resolve the 2025 title and the tension will increase. Zak Brown, the CEO, hopes that the fight that cracked everything between Spanish and English is not revived.

McLaren’s story knows well of internal duels among his pilots. Ayrton Senna vs Alain Prost takes all the laurels, with an unforgettable battle that was lived in the 1988 and 1989 seasons. Not far away at the war level was the fratricidal struggle between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in 2007. Between both chapters there is a gigantic difference: in the times of the Brazilian and the French, those of Woking stayed with the titles of pilots and builders. On the other hand, when English and Spanish fought, the champion was Kimi Räikkönen and Ferrari was crowned in teams after the sanction to McLaren in that case of espionage to the rosassa for which he was stripped of all his points. The English team is living the third contest chapter under its roof: Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

No one doubts that the world champion will be one of the two McLaren pilots. A hecatombe should occur so that the definition was not settled between the Australian and English. The numbers show it: the championship entered vacations and, with ten dates for the end, Max Verstappen is third to 97 points of the leader, Piastri. And the gap between the boys who handle the powerful MCL39 are just nine. For now, peace seems to reign in Woking, but everything can trigger in an instant. More after the Hungary GP, where the team opted for a different strategy for its boys and ended up clearly favoring Norris, who won in Hungaroring and shortened the distance with Pastri. The face of the Melbourne corridor when climbing to the podium was a symptom of how he felt. Not so much for that victory that escaped him, but for the reading that he will have quickly done in the future.

Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, does not want the 2007 situation to be repeated. In that year, rookie Lewis Hamilton stood before the reigning champion Fernando Alonso and received support from the team. In that year, the explosion arrived in Hungary, when English did not comply with a team order in Q3. Hamilton had to go behind Alonso in the first attempt, but he didn’t let him pass. When the two cars went to Boxes at the same time to change tires for the final attempt, the Asturian stood for longer in the PIT, before starting, while Hamilton shouted on the radio that he would advance because he would run out of time to open return. And it passed. The closing of the year was without a title with Alonso returning to Renault.

“We have our system and stick to it. We feel comfortable with our way of competing. We also know that we do not always succeed. We are and always be, and I think we have always been, a team of two cars. We are aware that the consequences of that could be those of 2007, “said Brown in statements to The Race. “In that year you had two pilots in McLaren who tied at points and lost with Kimi Räikkönen for one. We could have won that pilot championship, but who do you choose? And then you run the risk that the one you do not choose to leave. Our pilots receive equal treatment. There is nothing in their contract that gives priority to one on the other, nor do they ever ask for it. We know that benefits the team. They accept it, it seems good, and we know that the risk of that, if you want, from the pilot’s point of view, it is 2007, “he added.

“I think the disadvantage of favoring one or the other is that then one wants to leave, which is exactly what happened at the end of 2007. And you put the construction championship in danger. You see that other teams favor one, and that is beneficial for the pilot championship, but harmful to builders. Both championships are equally important to us, “said the American Pope.

Now, it is clear that as the dates pass, if the light between the pilots remains as narrow as at the beginning of the holidays (nine points), the temperature will increase. This year, beyond the change in Hungary strategy, there was also Norris to Piastri’s clash in Canada (English abandoned) and the almost shock of the Hungaroring classification … and more chapters will be added, without a doubt. Brown was bluntly in statements to the BBC: “If something arises, we will address it. Our way of operating is open and transparent. Looking at him from the outside, it seems that, seeing the battles between colleagues, it is seen that something is being created and one wonders: ‘Have they taken advantage of that or are they simply letting it develop?’ We will take the air out of the globe immediately if we feel that something is bubbling, but we have not seen anything. I don’t think they really fight due to communication, trust and respect we all have, and they have each other. We are very lucky to have these two personalities. We love challenges. I really want them to compete with each other. I am sure that they will never get out of the track to each other, and that is where the bad blood begins. “Only time will say if Brown and its work strategy stop the ínfulas of their pupils that will grow as the definition approaches.