McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has refuted Oscar Piastri's earlier claim, during the Qatar Grand Prix weekend, in which the driver suggested that the team held brief internal talks about giving championship preference to Lando Norris. The American has claimed that no such discussions were held at any point leading up to the race in Qatar.Piastri made a revelation during his talks with the media ahead of the Qatar GP weekend, as he explained that "very brief discussions" were held between himself and the McLaren team about favoring Lando Norris in the drivers' standings. That was because Max Verstappen has become a large threat, and Norris has a 24-point lead over the Aussie driver.Piastri then explained that the discussion ended with all in agreement that no such team orders will be deployed, as he still has a chance of winning the title. Speaking to F1 TV after the Sprint on Saturday, Zak Brown firmly rejected Piastri’s claim, stating that not even a brief conversation on the subject ever took place."I saw those comments (from Piastri) but I didn't see the interview. We actually haven’t discussed not doing anything other than both guys racing. So I don’t know if that particular quote was taken out of context or what the question was, but our boys have been free to race since Australia, they’re free to race now," said Brown."As I mentioned, there are three different drivers that can lead this championship coming out of this weekend, and therefore how can you do anything other than continue to let them race," he added.The Qatar GP weekend has been a fruitful one for Oscar Piastri so far. The 24-year-old claimed pole for the main race after having won the Sprint earlier on Saturday, and is now looking to close the gap further on Norris.Oscar Piastri delighted after securing pole position for Qatar GPOscar Piastri after securing pole for the Qatar Grand Prix - Source: GettyOscar Piastri said that he was "very happy" after securing his sixth pole position in 2025 at the Qatar GP on Saturday. The McLaren driver also added that he got almost all the performance out of his car during the qualifying session as he set a new lap record in Lusail with a 1:19.387 time.Speaking to the media after the session, Piastri explained how he felt after securing his first pole since the Dutch GP."Very happy, to be honest. Felt like we just had a really good session," said Piastri, via Formula 1."Very, very happy. The car was great once again and felt like I got very, very close to getting everything out of it on the final lap. So, when you can do that, it's always a nice feeling," he added.Piastri then explained that things seemed to have just "naturally clicked" for him during the Qatar GP after a poor run of form in the preceding races. He added that the weekend had been smooth for him up to this point and that the pace in his McLaren had felt solid.