Lando Norris leads the standings heading into the decider with a 12-point buffer over Max Verstappen, while Oscar Piastri sits 16 points behind his team-mate. Norris needs only a podium to guarantee his first title, but the three-way fight leaves McLaren bracing for every scenario.
Brown made clear the team will not hesitate if one McLaren driver emerges as the only realistic title contender once the race unfolds. Speaking to Sky Sports F1, he said: “Yes, of course. We’re realistic. We want to win this drivers’ championship.
“We’re coming into the weekend knowing that they both have equal opportunity, even though there’s obviously a point spread.
“You don’t know how qualifying is going to go, reliability, but if we get into the race and it’s becoming pretty clear that one has a chance and the other doesn’t, we’re going to do what we can to win the drivers’ championship.
“It would be crazy not to.”
One commonly discussed scenario involves Piastri running inside the top three with Norris behind him in fourth. In those circumstances the Australian would be mathematically out of contention, but a position swap would protect McLaren’s hopes against Verstappen should the Red Bull win the race.
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Brown stressed the team’s long-held stance on fairness had served them well this season, but insisted that the championship is the priority now that the constructors’ crown has already been secured.
“We’re not going to not win the championship because we’re trying to protect a third and a fourth or a sixth and a seventh, or however the situation may play out,” he said.
“It’s a team sport, right? So, we’re trying to win the constructors’ as a team and we’re trying to win the drivers’ as a team.”
He added that both drivers would prefer the title to stay within the team.
“If one of them can’t win, they want the other to win. And that’s what the team wants. And they are team players and we’ve already seen that last year, right?
“I don’t think it’s unusual in any sport for team-mates to make sacrifices for each other to give the team what they want.”
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