Zak Brown gives team orders update addressing 'the elephant in the room'

Entering the final two rounds of the season, Lando Norris leads the drivers' standings. The Briton sits 24 points ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen.

Ahead of the weekend in Qatar, the Australian told GPblog that he would be free to race for himself. He said: "We've had a very brief discussion on it, and the answer is no, [I don't need to help]."

Talking to Sky Sports, McLaren CEO Brown discussed whether his team would have team orders until the end of the season.

He said they are taking it race by race: "We have two drivers that can leave this race leading the world championship. So, how do you do anything other than give both drivers equal opportunity to try and lead the championship?

He continued: "If we get into Abu Dhabi and we get into a situation where one can't make it happen, then of course we'll ask one driver to help the other.

The American also explained that they constantly address this 'elephant in the room'

Brown explained: "We talk about everything. And I think that's one of the reasons why we have such a great working relationship with our drivers, Andrea [Stella], myself, and the whole team, is we just talk about topics. We don't hide from them.

"We've got two guys that can win this championship, so we're not going to do anything differently until the situation's different," the CEO concluded.

After Sprint Qualifying in Qatar, Piastri will line up on pole position on Saturday. After a mistake on his second run, Norris will start from P3, while Max Verstappen will start from sixth place.

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