McLaren insists there is still "no reason" to back Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri despite the looming threat of Max Verstappen at the penultimate round of the season in Qatar.
McLaren's disastrous double DQ in Las Vegas has brought Verstappen right back into play; he has moved level on points with Piastri, just 24 points adrift of Norris.
A grand prix victory is worth 25 points, while there are eight other points available this week in the sprint race. The season ends with next weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Dec. 7.
Verstappen's outsider title bid had been gaining momentum in the weeks leading up to Las Vegas but he is now a legitimate threat within McLaren's margin for error for the first time down the stretch.
In a Q&A put out by the team largely explaining the Las Vegas debacle, team boss Andrea Stella was asked if Verstappen's position would prompt a change in the management of the team's drivers.
"No, there is no reason to do so," Andrea Stella said in a lengthy statement put on on Thursday.
McLaren has won 13 races this year to Red Bull's six. While Verstappen has won all of his team's, Norris has seven of McLaren's to Piastri's six. McLaren has stuck firmly to a policy of letting Norris and Piastri race evenly all season.
While Piastri, whose title bid has fallen apart since he won the Dutch Grand Prix in late August, now appears to be a long shot, he still has a chance of winning the title.
Stella said nothing will change until Piastri's chances are officially over.
"We have always said that as long as the maths does not say otherwise, we would leave it up to the two drivers to fight for their chance at the final victory, and that is how it will be in Qatar.
"Let's not forget that if someone had told us at the start of the season that we would find ourselves in this situation with two races to go, we would have signed up for it!
"Now we are going to fight for the double world championship with confidence and awareness of our strength."
Piastri reiterated the team's stance on team orders on Thursday afternoon during media day for the Qatar Grand Prix. When asked if he would help his teammate fend off Verstappen, he told reporters: "We've had a very brief discussion on it and the answer is 'no'.
"I'm still equal on points with Max and I've got a decent shot of still winning it if things go my way, and that's how we'll play it."
McLaren has already wrapped up the constructors' championship, retaining the title it won in 2024.
Verstappen is looking to repeat what he did last year and take his Red Bull to the drivers' championship despite another team winning the constructors'.
Should McLaren lose the title to Verstappen, they would become just the second team in F1 history to repeat as constructors' champions without winning a drivers' championship in either season.
Ferrari was the last to do so in 1982 and 1983.