Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been told in no uncertain terms by McLaren that one of them must win the Formula 1 title this year. They are well-placed, first and second with just a point separating them heading into Saturday’s Sprint race in Sao Paulo.

And the 36-point cushion championship leader Norris enjoys over third-placed Max Verstappen is a comfortable one with just four rounds remaining. But F1 history is littered with examples of feuding team-mates being pipped to the post by another rival.

Andrea Stella worked for Ferrari when Kimi Raikkonen snatched the title from the quarrelling Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in 2007. And he was on the losing end three years later when Alonso, that time wearing red, lost out to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel on the final day.

Now McLaren team principal, Stella does not want to allow another fairytale comeback to happen. The Italian said of those examples: “In both cases, it was the driver who was third in the classification at the last race who won the championship. When we look back at 2007, we know there was a lot of internal competition at McLaren and that went a bit too far.

“We could say that racing [each other] led to victory for the third one, for another team. This is a conversation we are having internally right now, with Lando and Oscar, to say, ‘Let’s make sure that the winner drives a Papaya car. There is a bigger interest for the team and for yourselves, because we look at the future, not only the present’.”

Piastri led the championship for most of the year but a recent loss of form has seen Norris take control. The Brit was quickest in practice yesterday but only two-hundredths of a second separated the two McLaren cars. Stella saw enough to declare the Aussie back on the pace.

He said: “Oscar has already provided the answer in free practice today. Pretty much every time he was setting a lap, that was the fastest in the session. He is confident and his comments in the car and the debriefs… he is in tune with the car and he feels that what he is doing is generating the lap time in a very natural way.

“That wasn’t the case in the last two races, when the conditions from a grip point of view and the way the car needed to be driver was quite unnatural to Oscar. He has learned rapidly and it was a shame he could not show the pace in the [Mexico] race, because he was blocked in traffic for pretty much all the race at the Mexico City Grand Prix. But we have a very strong Oscar here, and hopefully we will be able to confirm this throughout the weekend.”

He cares not which of his drivers becomes champion – as long as one of them stops Verstappen from winning five titles in a row. Stella added: “The mood is certainly very positive. We are very excited to be in this strong position in the drivers’ championship. We have a fast car, two fast drivers and a team that is prepared and determined.

“We are excited by the idea of being the ones attempting to stop Verstappen’s dominance. He has been the champion for the last four years and we feel a sense of privilege to be in this position. We will keep the fight going until the last corner in Abu Dhabi.”