Zak Brown has suggested he would rather see beat both his drivers to the title than pick a favourite between them. leads the drivers' championship but team-mate is also gunning for glory.

And, thanks to his victory at last Sunday's , Verstappen remains very much in the mix. Despite having the superior car for the most part in 2025, the Dutchman is still only 22 points off the lead, helped by his status as the clear number one at .

If there is one thing McLaren are lacking, it is clarity on that front. Much has been made of their 'Papaya Rules' and the team's reluctance to issue orders in a race, with the outfit keen to avoid handing one of their drivers more backing than the other.

And chief executive Brown says he is so committed to avoiding the faintest whiff of favouritism that he claims he would prefer to see Verstappen become a five-time champion this year than for McLaren to pick between Norris and Piastri.

"For us, it's quite an easy thing to work through," he told . "Our drivers aren't asking for favouritism, they're asking for fairness and that's what they get. I think they're very comfortable – may the best man win.

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"Hopefully we give them a car in an environment where you're going into the last race and it's the two of them competing, and they didn't take points off each other to the point where it lets Max or someone else get in there. But if so, then whoever wins the drivers' championship has done a better job.

"I'm comfortable with that because the other scenario is, how do you take a driver out of the championship that's competing for the championship? That's not right at all. If you had a second driver that wasn't competing for the championship, then I get it – sacrifice [Yuki] Tsunoda's qualifying because he's giving Max a tow, or whatever.

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"I get compromising the second car at Red Bull because it's not competing for the drivers' championship, so it's an easy decision to make. But when you've got two drivers first and second in the championship and are separated by less than one second place finish, how do you possibly even consider standing one down into a supporting role? There's just no way we will."

For McLaren, the clear priority is to make sure they successfully defend their constructors' crown before they turn their full attention to the drivers' championship. And it is going well for them on that front, the Woking-based outfit enjoying a 132-point advantage over nearest challengers already.

Red Bull have already given up on the teams' title with team principal admitting to Mirror Sport after last Sunday's Imola race that . "The constructors' is very much a long shot at the moment so all our focus is on the drivers', but having [Tsunoda] in play is really important," he said.

"[Tsunoda's crash in qualifying] was a shame because he drove a good race today – had he started in position, he would have been much further up. Hopefully, that will come over the coming races."