Zak Brown shares the onus on Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to decide who wants to win the world championship

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has weighed in on the drivers’ championship fight between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. As the Woking team continues its charge for its maiden Drivers’ title since 2008, the 53-year-old detailed that it is up to both drivers to take charge of their destiny.

Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been locked in a championship battle, with only eight points separating the duo ahead of the second half of the 2025 campaign. However, the McLaren team chief stressed that it would be up to both his drivers to decide who wants to clinch the championship more.

Sharing his thoughts via Sky Sports F1 during his recent appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the American motorsports executive expressed his feelings on the tug of war between the drivers.

“We will let them go — it's up to them to decide who wins the world championship. I hope it's one of the two. I think we still need to extend our lead a little bit more before we get comfortable. But you're never quite comfortable in this sport, so we’ll just let them keep racing. I thought Austria was a great demonstration of how hard they can race each other cleanly,” said Brown.

The statement by Zak Brown comes at a pivotal time, with the championship fight between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri heating up. In recent races, both drivers have been involved in intense wheel-to-wheel battles, particularly as witnessed at the Austrian Grand Prix, where a strategy call proved to be the difference between Norris’ eventual race win and Piastri securing the second spot.

Both drivers will renew another instalment of their championship battle when the Formula 1 grid heads to Belgium for the Grand Prix in Spa.

Lando Norris speaks on his racing mindset

Lando Norris recently detailed his approach to racing in Formula 1. The 25-year-old is currently locked in a title fight with teammate Oscar Piastri.

The British racer, who is currently in his seventh season racing in Formula 1, has largely witnessed conversations surrounding his ability under pressure throughout the first half of the 2025 campaign. However, following his race victory at the British Grand Prix, Norris opened up on his subtly revamped approach to races.

"I think you get so used to it being normal, and you kind of get used to waking up on a Sunday, knowing that it's race day," Norris explained to Rollingstone. "I remember the first year or two in Formula 1, I would wake up on a Sunday and be like, 'Oh God!' You're kind of excited, nervous… you don't know what's going to happen because there are a lot of new situations," he added. "Now I'm able to anticipate much better what might happen, and I'm able to narrow down a lot more of the situations I might be in. So that's just experience," he concluded.

Lando Norris' recent run of race victories has seen him claw back into the championship fight with Piastri, and a win at the Belgian Grand Prix could see him climb to the top of the Drivers’ Standings—provided Piastri fails to finish second at minimum. Norris is yet to taste victory at the undulating Belgian Grand Prix circuit, and the McLaren driver will be hoping to achieve this feat when Formula 1 takes to the Spa-Francorchamps track in the final weekend of July.

Edited by Rupesh