Brown predicts Piastri will ‘only get stronger’ in championship lead as he explains what that means for Norris

Zak Brown has predicted that Oscar Piastri is “only going to get stronger” as the new leader of the championship, with the McLaren CEO also looking forward to seeing the Australian engage in an “epic battle” on track with team mate Lando Norris in the near future.

After previously taking victories in China and Bahrain, Piastri continued his strong run of form by claiming a third win of the season in Saudi Arabia, a result that also put the 24 year old at the top of the Drivers’ standings with a tally of 99 points – 10 clear of Norris in second, while Max Verstappen is 12 points behind Piastri in third.

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This also means that Piastri is the first Australian to head the championship in 15 years, with the last to hold that position being his manager, Mark Webber.

Speaking to F1 TV following the race in Jeddah, Brown was quizzed on whether becoming the leader rather than the chaser may adjust Piastri’s mindset at all, to which he responded: “I’m here to announce to everyone [that] I think he’s only going to get stronger.”

Brown then faced questions on what this could mean for Norris, who put in a recovery drive in Saudi Arabia to cross the line in fourth after crashing out of Saturday’s Qualifying session during Q3.

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“We’ve got our two number ones,” Brown said of the drivers’ shared status within the team. “I think they’re equal, they race each other hard. I think we’ve yet to see them really have an epic battle – I think that day’s coming, I’m looking forward to it.

“They race hard, they race clean, so I know everyone’s waiting for that big moment. I think it’s going to be a bit of a non-event for us internally.

“We know it’s more of a when than an if. We have two great Grand Prix drivers racing hard, next to each other the majority of the time – something’s going to happen, but that’s racing, so I’m excited.”

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Piastri and Norris will next have the opportunity to potentially go head-to-head at the Miami Grand Prix, an event that was the scene of Norris’ first win in Formula 1 back in 2024.