The 2025 F1 season is heading into its final stretch with McLaren at the top of the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships. In what has been the closest teammate battle in recent seasons, Lando Norris took hold of the championship after the Mexico City GP.
At the time, there was one point separating him from his teammate Oscar Piastri; now Norris sits 24 points behind his teammate with a forecast that sees him clinching the championship after the Qatar sprint race.
McLaren Racing CEO, Zak Brown spoke on the High Performance podcast about the internal management that goes on when managing two F1 championship contenders within the same team — he implied that things have been rather calm between Norris and Piastri, a scenario cultivated through a culture of constant communication and a relationship that extends beyond the driver-team boss dynamic.
No fallout, no bad blood
These razor-thin margins caused several moments of tension between the teammates, the most notable being in Singapore, where the team won the Constructors’ Championship — the Lap 1 incident, where both cars made contact, caused immense frustration for the then championship leader, Oscar Piastri, who insisted that Norris give the position back.
While it may look uneasy from the outside, Brown says there was no further escalation between the McLaren F1 teammates.
“There hasn’t even been a fallout, not between them,” he shared.
He went on to say that despite the contact, none of them ever blamed the other, “even when they’ve touched each other. They’ve never said, ‘Lando did that, Oscar did that.’“
Constant communication to build trust
Brown credits the openness that McLaren F1 team members have with each other, citing that he and team principal Andrea Stella have always remained open with their two drivers. The team regularly holds meetings every race weekend and on Sunday mornings after qualifying to review every possible strategy, potential conflicts, and expectations.
The intention behind this is to ensure that there are no last-minute surprises for the drivers — trust is a two-way street, and for McLaren, it’s a major aspect of what’s contributing to their success.
“You don’t want to surprise the driver in the race with some piece of information that’s new. They have a tremendous amount of trust with us because we’ve never broken their trust, and we have a tremendous amount of trust with them.”
If frustration arises at any point, it’s almost always directed toward Brown or team principal Andrea Stella rather than the drivers themselves; Brown noted that this minor quality showed just how balanced things are within the team.
“Anytime they get grumpy, it’s a little bit towards me and Andrea because we’re trying to be fair and balanced,” he says.
“The fact they’ve both been a little bit grumpy at times with us actually tells you things have been fair and balanced.”
A genuine friendship
At a personal level, Brown believes that the spirit of his personal relationship with the duo has led to the transparency that comes so easily to everyone. In a traditional team setting, every partnership appeared transactional and surface-level; some bosses would only catch up with their drivers once a year over dinner, a fact that shocked Brown.
“I was surprised how transactional some of the relationships have been between racing driver and team boss at some other teams.”
In contrast, Brown shared that his relationship with Norris and Piastri has developed and strengthened in a way that goes beyond the track, like a genuine friendship.
The team boss takes on an activity to try out with each driver and ensures that he remains in constant communication with them to maintain that close bond.
“I’m talking to Lando and Oscar every week, trading texts if not every day, every couple of days. I’ve probably done 15 rounds of golf with Lando, been out driving race cars with Oscar. There’s a real relationship there.”
This quality is what evidently sets McLaren apart from other teams on the grid; the connection remains clear on race weekends.
The duo is making it work
Similarly, he believes that Norris and Piastri’s personalities play a huge role in making this dynamic work.
“I’m not sure Andrea and I would be able to manage other drivers the way we can Oscar and Lando,” Brown admits. “Character is part of our recruiting process. Do they think like us?”
As the championship reaches its decisive phase, the internal harmony Brown describes will be put under even greater pressure. Even so, he remains confident the team can navigate the final rounds without fracture.
“Nothing’s been difficult with Lando, Oscar, and Andrea, and I. We sit down, we’re all on the same page.”
