McLaren's boss says he would rather Red Bull's Max Verstappen win the Formula 1 drivers' championship than prefer one of his racers over the other.
A McLaren driver has led the drivers' championship at the end of every round thus far this season, with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris seeking their maiden title, and McLaren's first drivers' championship since 2008.
But McLaren's persistence in not prioritising one of their drivers has allowed Verstappen to storm back into contention, and has similarities to the 2007 championship when McLaren blew the chance for either of their drivers to be world champion.
However, McLaren CEO Zak Brown said his team would continue to allow Piastri and Norris to battle each other for the championship, even if that meant losing it all to Verstappen.
"We're well aware of 2007," Brown told F1's Beyond the Grid podcast.
"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."
Norris leads the F1 drivers' championships on 357 points with four rounds remaining, one point ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
Piastri was the leader of the championship from the end of round five in Saudi Arabia until the most recent race weekend (round 20) in Mexico City.
However, four-time world champion Verstappen has surged back into contention, with three wins and two podiums in the past five grands prix, as well as a sprint race victory in Austin, Texas.
Verstappen is 36 points adrift of the championship lead, after being 104 points behind at the conclusion of the Dutch Grand Prix, round 15.
In 2007, McLaren was the top team that season, with Fernando Alonso and rookie Lewis Hamilton battling for the championship.
There was tension between both drivers in the championship battle, and McLaren refused to prioritise one driver.
Ultimately, as the McLaren duo took points off each other, Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen was able to snatch the championship away from McLaren at the final grand prix of the season, winning the championship by one point over both Alonso and Hamilton.
"The best way to win the constructors is to finish first and second in the [drivers'] championship, and the best way to win the drivers' championship is to have two drivers going for the drivers' championship," Brown said.
"In the event 2007 happens again, I'd rather have that outcome than all the other outcomes by playing favourites. We won't do it. We're racers. We're going racing."
Piastri won seven of the first 15 grands prix this season, but has not been on the top step in the previous five rounds.
The Australian finished on the podium in 14 of the opening 16 grands prix, but failed to place in the top three in the next four.
The dip in form has eradicated what was a 34-point lead to Norris after round 15 in the Netherlands, Piastri's last win.
Norris took the lead of the championship by one point after a dominating win in Mexico City. Piastri drove well to finish fifth, after being ninth at the end of the opening lap, but it was not enough to hold onto the championship lead.
There are four grands prix and two sprint races left in the championship, with a maximum of 116 points still available.
There will be a sprint race and grand prix this weekend in the Brazilian city of São Paulo.
Verstappen won last year's São Paulo Grand Prix from 17th on the grid, in one of F1's greatest performances.
ABC Sport will have a live blog of the Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix, in Brazil, from 2am AEDT on Monday, November 10.
