Brown explains how McLaren are handling ‘enjoyable’ task of managing Norris and Piastri’s relationship

Zak Brown has insisted that handling the relationship between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both on and off the track is an “enjoyable” task for McLaren rather than a “problem”, with the CEO hopeful that the pair’s rivalry will continue until the end of the season.

The Woking-based outfit have enjoyed an impressive first half of the campaign, having built a whopping 238-point lead in the Teams’ Championship, while Piastri and Norris are now some way ahead of their rivals in the Drivers’ standings.

This also saw the two papaya cars collide for the first time at the Canadian Grand Prix, before spending much of the following race in Austria locked in a fight for the win.

Asked during the British Grand Prix weekend about how he was finding the task of managing the intra-team battle between McLaren's drivers, Brown responded: “Pretty awesome.

“I thought Austria was an epic race – everyone’s been kind of waiting to see that race between the two of them and they were on it, they were fast, they were aggressive, they gave each other racing room and it was very exciting, so I’m looking forward to seeing more of that.”

In terms of whether it is a case of ensuring that Norris and Piastri keep things clean on the track – and still remain amicable off it – Brown admitted that he is keen to see more close racing between the two right down to the wire.

“It’s not a problem,” Brown said of handling the situation. “It’s quite enjoyable, and they want to race fairly. They just want equal equipment, fair treatment, which is exactly what they get, and they want to beat 19 other cars, their team mate included, so it’s a pleasure to work with them.

“They’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for each other – how you see them conduct themselves, that’s how they are behind the scenes.

“I think a lot of that is the chemistry that we’ve built in the team, and I see no reason why it can’t come down to Abu Dhabi and I hope the two of them are battling it out, and when it’s all said and done they shake hands and say, ‘Job well done’ and go again next year.”