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Zak Brown believes a clash on-track between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri is “inevitable” this season as the two McLaren drivers compete for the F1 world championship.
Armed with the quickest car on the grid, Piastri leads Norris by 10 points heading into round six in Miami as the Australian driver chases a third consecutive win after recent triumphs in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Norris, meanwhile, has endured a tricky few weeks following his impressive season-opening win in Australia and will be looking to bounce back this weekend, at a track where he won his first F1 race last year.
Both drivers have been told to respect the team’s “papaya rules” instruction when racing each other, essentially meaning they can compete without any risk of contact. Yet McLaren CEO Brown admitted a “racing incident” will occur at some point this year.
"I think it's definitely a matter of when, rather than if,” Brown said, when asked on Sky Sports F1 about the prospect of a collision between the two drivers.
"You have two racing drivers, whether in the same team or different team, that are next to each other for 24 races, someone's going to lock a brake.
"So, I'm kind of looking forward to getting it over with because I don't think it's going to be anywhere near as exciting as everybody thinks.
"I think it will be a racing incident when that day comes. I think it's inevitable.
"They're two great characters. Neither of them are hotheads, so we're not worried about it, and to a certain extent, kind of looking forward to just getting it out of the way."
McLaren won last year’s constructors’ championship – their first in 26 years – and have a clear advantage to the rest of the frontrunners at this stage of the season, including Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.
Max Verstappen is their closest challenger in the drivers’ championship, trailing leader Piastri by 12 points heading into Miami, where the second of six sprint weekends this season will be held.
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