"At McLaren Technologies you are not allowed to celebrate because it might make the other driver feel sad": Fans react to Zak Brown's unique claim

F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain - Source: Getty
Oscar Piastri, race winner Lando Norris and Zak Brown, Chief Executive Officer of McLaren, on the fan stage - Source: Getty

F1 fans were left raging after McLaren CEO Zak Brown claimed that they as a team would discuss how to celebrate their championship win, given that one of its drivers would lose the title. The Woking-based outfit has produced a dominant car in the 2025 season, which has taken 11 victories in 14 completed races, with Oscar Piastri winning six of them compared to his teammate Lando Norris' five.

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The duo has been battling tooth and nail in the championship this year, which has been an intriguing watch for fans. While Piastri has maintained his lead for the majority of the season, Norris has since closed the gap significantly before the summer break.

Speaking with The Race, McLaren CEO mentioned that he would discuss with the team internally about potentially muting the celebrations if and when one of their drivers wins the championship against the other, saying:

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"We'll just sit down and actually have a conversation and go ‘Right, one of you is going to win, it's going to be the best day of your life - one of you is going to lose, how do you want us to handle that? You want us to jump up and down and celebrate this guy [who] won?'
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"We're fully aware and sensitive to how you celebrate that situation. And I think we'll just sit down with the drivers and come to an agreement: ‘One of you is not going to be the champion. How do you want us to act?' That's the way we think. It comes back to thinking about our people."
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F1 fans took to social media to give their reactions to Zak Brown's comments on X, with one fan claiming:

"At McLaren Technologies you are not allowed to celebrate because it might make the other driver feel sad"
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"The Sad Driver should be put on a small boat and sent out to sea," recommended a fan.
"Never seen such a weird team. I feel sorry for Oscar," wrote another.

Here are some more reactions:

"What is this power of friendship, woke nonsense? McLaren is a strange team."
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"Awww their feefees.... noooooo, these sad rich racing drivers living in Monaco have feelings too... ☹️ How sad," said a fan.
"They’re so corny. What kind of princessness is going on?" asked another.

Oscar Piastri is leading his teammate Lando Norris by nine points with 10 races and three Sprints remaining in the 2025 season.

McLaren CEO shares an insight into his approach to leadership

McLaren CEO Zak Brown stated that he tried to break the ice between his two drivers in his bid to calm the tension and move forward with their target.

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As quoted by the aforementioned source, the American reflected:

"I always try and break the ice. Kind of goof around a little bit with the drivers. That's understanding the people here. But we have thought about it, I've thought about how do you deal with the winner and the loser, if you'd like.
"And that'll just be a conversation we have with the drivers and go, ‘How would you like us to conduct ourselves?' Because we'll be very considerate about that approach."

McLaren has maintained a respectful and frictionless championship run so far with its drivers despite fighting for the big prize.

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Edited by Hitesh Nigam
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