Zak Brown insisted that McLaren's papaya rules were made to be bent after Monza reignited the debate over whether team orders are needed at the British-based team.
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris claimed second and third behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, with the latter enduring another poor start after securing pole in qualifying.
The Australian was able to make his way past his McLaren team-mate heading into Turn 4, with Piastri ultimately able to finish ahead of Norris at the end of the race.
However, McLaren recorded their fourth-best ever run of having one or both drivers on the podium (12), while also closing the gap in the constructors' championship.
The gap to Red Bull now stands at eight points ahead of Baku in two weeks, with Norris also closing the gap to Max Verstappen to 62 points in the drivers' championship.
But in allowing their drivers to fight, McLaren opened the door for Ferrari to pounce, but Brown defended Piastri's move on his team-mate in the opening exchanges.
“It was aggressive, it was an aggressive move [by Piastri],” Brown told Sky Sports F1 after the race.
“Their start was great and that was what we had discussed, kind of get behind the other and fan out to make sure nobody else could get by.
“I think Lando was caught by surprise with that move, thinking let’s just tuck into a one-two and see if we can pull a bit of a gap, so it’s something we’ll discuss internally.
“Papaya rules are it’s your team mate; race him hard, race him clean, don’t touch, that happened.
"It was an aggressive pass so that’s a conversation we’ll have, that was a bit nerve wracking on pit wall but it’s really just respect your team mate.
"Lando got a bad run out of that corner as well so it would have been nice to see them run one-two a bit longer.
"They didn’t touch, it was an aggressive pass but a clean pass.”
Despite McLaren's recent success, Ferrari's triumph at their home race has brought them back into contention for the constructors' championship and are just 31 points further back.
The British-based team have failed to win the title since 1998 when Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard worked together to deliver their eighth constructors' title.
However, Brown remained firm in his assessment that McLaren would not prioritise one driver over the other for the remaining eight races of the season.
“They are both young drivers who want to win. We have always believed in having two number ones," Brown said.
"That’s always been McLaren’s way, it can be difficult to manage – we’ve seen it with Senna and Prost.
“They get along great, they do race each other clean and it’s philosophical – are you a one-car team or a two-car team?
"The easiest thing would have been for Lando to just run away with it, and then not have to put difficult decisions on the pit wall, but Andrea and I are taking it one race at a time.”
McConnell confident heading into rounds three and four of Nitrocross Championship in Utah
Jamaican racing sensation Fraser McConnell is gearing up for an intense weekend of action as he heads into Rounds three and four of the Nitrocross championship on October 5 & 6 in Utah.
Following a stellar performance at the season’s opening rounds in Richmond, Virginia, McConnell holds second place in the overall standings, just 11 points behind leader Kevin Eriksson.
McConnell’s dominant showing at Richmond Raceway on September 7 & 8 saw him secure a third-place finish in Round 1, followed by a thrilling battle for first in Round 2.
After clinching the top qualifier spot and winning his semi-final, McConnell started the Round 2 final in pole position. Despite taking an early lead, a dramatic half-spin pushed him off his racing line, allowing Eriksson to take the win. McConnell finished second ahead of Viktor Vranckx.
Looking ahead to the Utah rounds, McConnell remains optimistic about his chances.
“I’m really looking forward to this weekend, going back to Utah, the birthplace of Nitrocross,” he shared.
“It all started there with the Nitro World Games in 2018 and 2019, so it's a very special place for everyone involved.”
McConnell also highlighted the challenge of the upcoming track. “Salt Lake is one of the craziest tracks on the calendar, with the biggest gap jump and a lot of demanding corners. It requires high speed from us drivers. I'll just go out there and hit my marks as usual, trying to extract as much as I can from the car while proudly repping Jamaica.”
With back-to-back podium finishes in Rounds 1 and 2, McConnell is confident about continuing his strong run.
“We’re second in the championship with 107 points, and I’m looking forward to continuing that streak this weekend,” he said.
McConnell currently leads defending champion Robin Larsson by four points and is poised to close the gap further in his pursuit of overtaking Eriksson.
McConnell's season is sponsored by JustBet, Proven, Tru Shake, Rainforest, and the Jamaica Tourist Board.
Reggae Racers Gore, Summerbell secure creditable finishes in race five of ADAC GT4 Germany series
Jamaica’s team of Tommi Gore and Senna Summerbell produced a creditable showing in the fifth race of the ADAC GT4 Germany series as they secured two top-15 finishes at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, at the weekend.
The Jamaican duo, dubbed the Reggae Racers, displayed their prowess as they drove their Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Club Sport to a 14th place finish after qualifying in ninth position in race one.
They were up with the pace from a strong start but later faded down the track in a fiercely competitive field.
However, the Avia W&S Motorsport representatives improved significantly in the second race, where they went nine places better to place fifth after placing fourth in qualifying.
The team of Jan Marschalkowski and Philipp Gogollok from Eastside Motorsport, finished tops to register their first win of the series. They won ahead of Finn Zulauf and Josef Knopp, also representing Avia W&S Motorsport.
With much positive to take from their performances, Gore and Summerbell will target even more improvements in the final race of the season scheduled for October 18-20 in Hockenheim, Germany.
“I am so happy to be a part of this team and ready to end the year strong. We had a big jump in results from the start of the season with this change, so we can only expect things to get better from here,” Gore said.
The Avia W&S Motorsports team, which currently occupies second position in the team ranking on 179 points, are the defending champions in the ADAC GT4 Series. They are 11 points behind leaders Hofor Racing.
A no-brainer: Bajan sensation Zane Maloney ditches Formula 2 ambitions to take up Formula E opportunity
With opportunities at certain levels of motorsport only coming far and few in between, Zane Maloney could not pass up the chance to participate in Formula E.
As such, the Barbados racing sensation made the decision to cut short his Formula 2 campaign after securing a seat to represent team Lola Yamaha ABT in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
The event, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars.
Though he currently occupies third position in the F2 drivers’ championship with two rounds remaining, Maloney, who recently inked a deal with Lola, is well aware of the significance of the Formula E opportunity presented to him and, as such, is eager to make the most of it at the expense of his F2 ambitions.
“In one way, I wanted to win Formula 2 this year. I wanted to give myself the best chance to do that, but I live my life by the day and I understand the opportunity that I have for next year, and when I think about that opportunity, everything in the present moment kind of gets forgotten about to some extent,” the 20-year-old said.
“So, of course, I know that coming to Formula E is a big opportunity for me and something amazing to show my skills in a world championship. I don’t really focus too much on the negative side of certain things. I try to focus on the positives, and I only see a positive thing coming into next year,” he added.
Maloney, who won the opening two races of the Formula 2 season, believes Formula E has gained traction as a top-notch championship, which made his decision a no-brainer.
“In F1, IndyCar, Formula E, and WEC as well, there’s not many seats that become available every year. There are a lot more drivers than there are seats, which makes it very difficult, and I think Formula E has always been a series that has amazing drivers, amazing manufacturers, and amazing teams. And of course, the media sees different motorsport genres a bit differently,” Maloney explained.
“But within the group of motorsports, Formula E is very well recognized, and every driver that goes into it knows how difficult it is to perform, so from that side of things, I don’t really focus too much on anything other than driving a race car as fast as I can with the opportunity that I’m given,” he noted.
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