Brown: Piastri-Norris battle will be a 'coin toss' every weekend

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown says the title battle between his drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will be a "coin toss" every weekend.

Piastri leads Norris by 16 points in the Drivers' Championship going into this week's Hungarian Grand Prix after a dominant victory in Belgium.

The points gap between the McLaren pair has never been above 23 since the start of this season, where they have won 10 of the 13 races.

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Asked by Sky Sports F1 which driver has the momentum, Brown said: "They both do because they're winning a lot and getting one-twos.

"I think Oscar was a little disappointed with qualifying in Belgium. Lando was very happy. I'm sure he'll be a little bummed that he didn't win today, but it's coming off of two wins. I think it's going to be a coin toss every weekend.

"Oscar is a machine. And what's impressive is how aggressive he is, and yet he always brings the car home. That's quite a talent."

McLaren have been clear they want to make the title fight a two-way fight between only their drivers.

Max Verstappen has lost ground over the last three events and fallen to 81 points behind championship leader Piastri, but Brown is still not ruling out the Red Bull driver yet.

"I think it's too early. It's looking good, but Max… there's a lot of racing left to go. We've got a nice gap but I wouldn't say we're there," he said.

"We've all been around this sport too long. To start dancing before you're in the end zone is a very dangerous thing to do."

Stella: Piastri, Norris racing at a very high level

Piastri and Norris have been team-mates at McLaren since 2023, with the latter largely having the upper hand until this year.

Norris was generally quicker last year but Piastri has been on level terms this season and leads his team-mate 7-6 in the qualifying head-to-head.

Team principal Andrea Stella says the priority is for both drivers to have an equal opportunity when it comes to the team's operations and reliability, so the drivers ultimately decide the outcome of the championship.

"There is very, very little between our two drivers, and this is because the two drivers are racing at very, very high level," he said.

"We are lucky at McLaren to have two drivers that are deservedly fighting for the World Championship. I think the difference will be made by the accuracy, the precision and the quality of the execution.

"We saw in Silverstone that a sporting issue for Oscar during the Safety Car restart and penalty cost him the race.

"In Spa, it was always going to be very difficult for Lando to keep the position, starting first at the Safety Car restart. At the same time, I think Lando didn't help himself by not having a great gap on the finish line. So I think the execution is what is going to make the main difference."

Sky Sports F1's Hungarian GP Schedule

Thursday July 31
2pm: Drivers' Press Conference

Friday August 1
8.50am: F3 Practice
10am: F2 Practice
12pm: Hungarian GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30pm)
1.55pm: F3 Qualifying
2.50pm: F2 Qualifying
3.35pm: Hungarian GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)
5.15pm: The F1 Show

Saturday August 2
9am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Hungarian GP Practice Three
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying*

Sunday August 3
7.25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Hungarian GP build-up*
2pm: The HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Hungarian GP reaction

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

F1 heads to the Hungarian Grand Prix for the final race before the sport's summer break, watch live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. For Sky customers, Sky Sports F1 is now found on channel 407. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime