Oscar Piastri admits that McLaren's challenge is to "balance" the team's interests with the natural "selfishness" of its drivers.
After McLaren recently surpassed Red Bull as the fastest team in 2024, many critics questioned why Lando Norris hasn't been elevated to clear 'number 1' status in the championship chase.
Dutch GP boss Jan Lammers suggested that the reason could lie in Piastri's contract, which may guarantee equal treatment, a point echoed by 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg.
"Oscar, in his contract, he will have a number 1 contract," Rosberg told Sky. "It won't say in his contract that 'you need to help Lando'."
However, this doesn't mean the team can't explain to Piastri, currently 44 points behind Norris, that it might be beneficial for him to support his teammate in the short term.
"If we win both championships, it will be a big boost and it will benefit the team a lot, even if he is the other driver, because we must not forget that Oscar is in the middle of his second season in Formula 1," said McLaren boss Andrea Stella.
"The future is Oscar's. You have to make sure that when the time comes to support, even the support he gives to the team or to Lando, for him it is an investment."
In an interview with GQ magazine, Piastri acknowledges McLaren's situation.
"We're a team of over 1000 people, and I'm just one of the two guys that gets to drive the car," said the Australian. "There's much more at stake than just my personal pride or ambitions.
"Hopefully, I can make a bit of an extra difference on track as all the drivers do but it's pretty straightforward to understand that we are a massive team, and there are the ambitions of 1000 people here, as well as the millions of fans that we have.
There's a very big picture at play, but ultimately, if you make your car quick enough, then you get the opportunity to balance both. It's quite a pressurised position to be in."
Piastri continued: "It's a very cool position to be in but as a driver, there is an element of selfishness in there, which is partly what makes us strong as drivers."
