The modern era of Formula 1 is littered with examples of top-seeded teams paying dearly for remaining with two drivers of the same lineage and calibre.
In 2007, when McLaren fielded then-reigning world champion Fernando Alonso and rookie Lewis Hamilton, infighting saw both drivers miss out on the title by a single point, while Kimi Raikkonen snatched the title from them in his first year with Ferrari.
Other famous rivalries such as Senna/Prost (McLaren), Hamilton/Rosberg (Mercedes) and Webber/Vettel (Red Bull) had less of an impact on the final outcome, as they took place in an era of dominance for their respective teams.
However, through various scenarios, they have led to the destabilization of teams and the breakup of driver pairs.
But if history suggests that having two great drivers doesn’t work out more often than it does, McLaren CEO Zak Brown argues that things will be different with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Both drivers took their first grand prix wins before the 2024 summer break, cementing their status as elite drivers on the grid.
While Norris took a thrilling win in Miami after a five-year wait, Piastri’s success in Hungary came after Norris relinquished the lead during a series of pit stops and only handed it back to the Australian at the very end, with a much-delayed position swap taking some of the shine off Piastri’s first win.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, go three wide into the first corner
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Norris expressed regret at not giving the position back sooner and the matter was addressed internally, but it was an early taste of how uncomfortable things could become in the future if McLaren were to continue to have a car capable of securing further victories with both its drivers.
Speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com, Brown said he was confident the team culture at McLaren was strong enough to survive a Norris-Piastri showdown, even if his own team’s history books are full of stories of the opposite outcome.
When asked why he believes having equal number ones will work for McLaren this time around, Brown replied: “The relationships, the communication and the two people we have.”
“There’s no doubt that they both want to be number one. They both want to be number one and they are. We don’t have any number twos.”
“But they’re racing for the team. They’re the kind of guys that I think can race each other hard and be number one in their own minds, respecting the fact that we have two number one cars. And we always have and always will.”
Brown did not rule out the possibility of favouring one driver over the other once there is a drivers’ championship on the line, but with Norris trailing Max Verstappen by 78 points and Piastri a further 32 points behind, that moment has not yet arrived for McLaren.
“Obviously, if you get further along in the championship and one driver has more chances than another, then you might start to look at things strategically differently,” he admitted.
Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, 3rd position, Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, the McLaren team celebrate after the race
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“But we treat them the same. They know it, they appreciate it and they respect our decisions when we sometimes have to make concessions. They are very respectful of that. So I think we are lucky to have the two drivers that we have and the two people that they are.”
Asked whether Norris and Piastri’s management will be the strongest test yet of the team culture he and team principal Andrea Stella are trying to build, he replied: “I think cultures build themselves. You set the direction and the tone, but then you can’t force it.”
“Andrea and I, and everyone here, are people who run, who push. We are fair, we are quite aggressive in the pursuit of performance. But in a fair way, not to win at all costs.”
“I think the team is like that too, so the atmosphere in the garage is great.”
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