Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the press conference

Brown issues shocking verdict in Piastri vs Norris title fight that'll make McLaren tremble

13:58, 11 Jul

byNorberto Mujica

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are separated by a hair in the championship standings and McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes that following the Canadian Grand Prix's crash between the papaya driver pairing, more incidents will take place.

However costly the race in Canada may have been given that the Woking-based outfit lost 10 points it had in the bag with Norris' DNF, things could've ve gone awry already in the very next race as Piastri nearly took himself and his teammate potentially as well as he locked up into Turn 4 missing Norris' MCL39 by milimeters in what would've transformer a 33-points surplus into a big double zero for McLaren.

'It was good that the Canadian GP accident happened'

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Brown defined the Canada crash as a positive event in the team's double championship journey. "Montreal was actually a nice moment for all of us in hindsight."

"It just kind of took the air out of the balloon, and we got it over with, and everyone was talking about it."

"It raised everyone's confidence and comfort of: 'It has happened.'

Lando Norris celebrates his Austrian Grand Prix victory in the face of Oscar Piastri

McLaren issue strong vote of confidence in Piastri and Norris

Brown saw no ill faith in the Norris-Piastri crash at Montreal, and going forward he expects more incidents to occur between the two. And should they happen, the American CEO knows exactly how McLaren will handle it.

"It was a mistake, so I think we'll see other incidents in the near future, but they will be racing mistakes, and racing mistakes are going to happen."

"We will treat them equally, fairly, transparently and with good communications, and we want it to be up to them to decide."

McLaren doesn't fret Piastri and Norris unravelling into a dirty fight

Brown doubles down on his drivers' lucidity and fairness when it comes to racing each other and is certain more fights between the two are bound to happen in what he believes will be a monumental title battle that will go down to the wire.

"If it comes down to the two of them, may the best man win, and they are both very clean drivers, and that is what is cool, is that you don't feel like one is going to run the other off the track. "

"They are going to fight hard again, mistakes will happen along the way, but it is going to be an epic battle down to the final race," Brown concluded.

After the Austrian and British Grand Prixs, Piastri now leads Norris by a mere 8 points in the standings, with the British McLaren driver now carrying the momentum in the championship fight as Formula 1 heads into the summer break following a two-week long haitus before the Belgian and Hungarian Grand Prixs take place on 24-27 July and 1-3 August.