Norris and Piastri have combined to win two of the last three F1 races for McLaren, while Verstappen hasn't won since the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23. While the team has said it wants Norris to dethrone Verstappen, Brown knows it is a longshot unless Norris can start sledgehammering-away large chunks of Verstappen's lead every race.

Formula One statistics for Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay circuit, round 18 of the 22 race season:

Max Verstappen said Formula 1 should not air team radio if the sport was concerned about bad language after the head of the governing FIA compared drivers to foul-mouthed rappers.