Zak Brown insists that he would rather see Max Verstappen win the 2025 title than tell one of his own drivers to defer to the other.

While Lando Norris has claimed the so-called papaya rules don't even exist, Brown insists that they will be enforced until season end, even if it means missing out on the drivers' title.

Norris overtook Piastri in the title fight in Mexico, while Verstappen remains just 36 points behind, and though there have been dubious strategic calls throughout the season, not to mention a mysterious drop in performance from the Australian, McLaren insists that its two drivers are free to fight.

At a time Bernie Ecclestone is claiming that Piastri has been 'nobbled', Brown insists that the papaya rules will remain no matter what, even if the cost is losing out on the title completely.

"I'd shake his hand and say, job well done," Bown tells the Beyond the Grid podcast when asked how he would feel should Verstappen claim the title.

"I want to make sure if we don't win, he beats us, we don't beat ourselves," he adds. "That's important.

"We're well aware of 2007," he continues, referring to the infamous season in which Fernando Alonso battled with teammate, and rookie, Lewis Hamilton. "Two drivers tie on points, one gets in the front... but you know, we've got two drivers who want to win the world championship. We're playing offence. We're not playing defence.

"I'd rather go, 'we did the best we can on our drivers tied in points and the other 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 the coin and you don't get to do it this year'.

"Forget it. That's not how we go racing. In the event that 2007 happens again, I'd rather have that outcome than all the other outcomes by playing favourites. We won't do it.

"We recognise the consequences of that could be 2007," he admits. "You've got two drivers that tie and lose to Kimi by a point.

"We could have won that drivers' championship, but who do you pick? And then you run the risk of the guy you don't pick, he's out of here.

"There is nothing in their contracts that gives one priority over the other," he insists. "The downside of favouring one would likely be one then wants to leave, which is exactly what happened at the end of '07."

Of course, another downside could be that one of your drivers grasses you up to the FIA for cheating and you get hit with a $100m fine, but that's another story.