Brown: We want the drivers to continue competing.

      McLaren's drivers are fighting for the title, and although Oscar Piastri is ahead of his teammate Lando Norris, events at several recent rounds have played out in such a way that his advantage has been reduced to 22 points. At the same time, Zak Brown, Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Racing, assures that the team still wants the drivers to continue to compete as they have been, but while observing one rule…

      Zak Brown: “We celebrated winning the Constructors' Championship brilliantly at the McLaren Technology Centre – I’m proud of our team! Of course, it was important to mark the occasion a little after the Grand Prix, but even more important to get everyone together – the race crew and everyone who works at the Woking base.

      Both drivers were there, and they came with their families, who of course can be considered part of our big racing family too.

      The fact that the team title has already been secured in no way affects our approach to work this weekend. Everything is going as usual. Our drivers have been engaged in a fierce rivalry since the start of the season, since the Australian Grand Prix, and in that respect nothing changes.”

      Since there was contact between the McLaren cars in the opening seconds of the Singapore race, and talks about that incident continue in Austin, Brown was asked to explain in more detail what the drivers meant when, speaking to the press, they said that the matter could have consequences.

      “You see, right at the start of the year we set rules defining how our drivers should race against each other,” Brown reminded once again. “After that everyone liked to talk about our ‘papaya rules,’ although in reality there is only one rule: no contact between the cars.

      They must not crash into each other. No matter how fierce the rivalry, you cannot put the team's interests at risk. Before the season we agreed on how the drivers would act in certain situations, and it’s clear that that small incident, which happened in a pretty chaotic situation at the start in Singapore, was not intentional.

      So, after the race we discussed everything with Lando and Oscar, including what the possible consequences for them might be. But we would prefer not to go into the details of that topic; it’s a private matter that concerns only us and those people who need to be aware.

      Both McLaren drivers are in great form, and we want to set them up correctly to continue the rivalry. When you have two drivers who are given equal status, it’s not easy. In general, we want them to fight on track, but not make contact with each other.

      I definitely don’t think the title fight is only between our drivers – Max Verstappen is still in the game, and it would be a big mistake to underestimate him and assume he’s already out of the championship fight.”