Zak Brown says managing Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri vying for 2025 F1 Drivers' Championship will be a challenge

11 December 2024, 17:30 | Updated: 11 December 2024, 17:46

McLaren boss Zak Brown has admitted it "will be a challenge at times" managing the team's drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as they both target the Drivers' Championship in 2025.

Norris claimed victory in Sunday's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to secure the Constructors' Championship for McLaren for the first time since 1998.

Having led the team to that triumph, chief executive Brown is now setting his sights on adding the Drivers' Championship to the trophy cabinet.

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He told Sky Sports News: "I think you want the clean sleep. Why not be greedy? And say, 'I want the drivers' one too and the constructors' too.'

"That's the goal going into next year. Lando had eight poles, unbelievable. Oscar had a fantastic season, so I think we have two drivers that can compete for the championship.

"And I'm sure all the men and women here will give them both another race car that's capable of winning races and fighting for the championship.

"The great news is our season is just going to roll on from Abu Dhabi. We have a tremendous amount of momentum, I've got a lot of confidence in the racing team and everyone here at the McLaren Technology Centre. So we'll do a little more celebrating this week and then it's full steam ahead to 2025."

Norris closed to within striking distance of eventual world champion Max Verstappen during the second half of the 2024 season but McLaren were hesitant to prioritise the Brit's hope, insisting that their drivers hold equal status within the team.

Norris, who will be entering his seventh season with the team, has clearly outperformed Piastri during the Australian's first two campaigns in F1 but McLaren see both drivers as future world champions.

After crossing the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi, Norris declared that "next year is my year", while Piastri said after the race that his target for 2025 would also be the drivers' title.

Asked about the potential challenges of managing the situation, Brown said: "Only one of them can finish first in any weekend.

"They're great team-mates, they're great team players - I think we saw that come through again in Qatar when we told Lando that he didn't need to swap positions, and he insisted that he owed his team-mate one.

"So those are the type of team-mates they are. Of course, come showtime they both want to win, but they race each other cleanly.

"I'm sure it will be a challenge at times, but we'll just take it one race at a time. What we do is treat everyone fairly, equally, transparently, so there's no surprises.

"So, we'll just see how the season unfolds and hopefully we have the challenge of two drivers fighting for the same Drivers' Championship at the last race of the year.

"I'm sure that will be nerve-wracking, but they race each other cleanly. I think that's what's most important, they race each other hard. And they want to win on track - they don't want to be gifted anything."

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(c) Sky Sports 2024: Zak Brown says managing Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri vying for 2025 F1 Drivers' Championship will be a challenge