San Francisco Frontiers - McLaren boss says would rather lose title than issue team orders

Speaking to Formula One's 'Beyond the Grid' podcast, Brown said he could not contemplate favouring one driver even if it resulted in losing the title to Red Bull's four-time champion by one point.

With four events remaining, ahead of this weekend's Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Lando Norris leads the championship by one point ahead of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri with the in-form Verstappen 36 adrift in third.

"We've got two drivers who want to win the world championship," said Brown.

"We're playing offence -- we're not playing defence. I'd rather go 'we did the best we can and our drivers tied on points and the other guy beat us by one' than the alternative.

"Which is telling one of our drivers right now, when they're one point away from each other, 'I know you have a dream to win the world championship, but we flipped a coin and you don't get to do it this year'.

"Forget it. That's not how we go racing."

Brown was reminded of the finale to the 2007 drivers' world championship when the embattled McLaren pair, two-time champion Fernando Alonso and then-rookie Lewis Hamilton, slipped away and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen caught them to take the title in Brazil by a single point.

Hamilton had appeared to be heading for a remarkable triumph in his first season, but scored only two points in the season-ending Chinese and Brazilian races while Alonso scored 14 and Raikkonen 20, with two wins.

It finished with Raikkonen on 110 points ahead of Hamilton and Alonso on 109 each.

Verstappen was 104 points behind Piastri in August, but with three wins and three podiums, plus a sprint victory, has scored 134 in six events to reduce his deficit to 36 while McLaren's duo appeared to become jittery, have lost consistency and points.

Piastri, who was dominant until September, lost the leadership for the first time since April when Norris won in Mexico two weeks ago.

He has failed to beat him in five races, spawning claims that McLaren, the team champions for a second year, favour the British driver against the Australian –- a conspiracy theory rejected by Brown.

"In the event that 2007 happens again, I'd rather have that outcome than all the others by playing favourites. We don't do it. We're racers and we're going racing."

J.Peterson--SFF