2025 McLaren F1 Team

[venkyhere]

To me the answer is simple :
- Redbull had lower DF but no top speed advantage. It's upto clean air and Max's talent that he could match Mclaren's pace lap after lap.
- In light of the above, I am shocked that McLaren didn't even try grabbing a few 'clean air' laps to check whether they could really up the pace.
- When they can see that whenever Norris goes 0.3-0.4 faster in one non-recharge lap, Max is matching up the same 0.3-0.4 in his very next non-recharge lap ; should have tried 'offsetting' tyres somehow - burning the Ms early and going longer on H or going 2 burn up laps extra on Ms , to have 2 lap fresher H until end of race.

They tried nothing. No matter what Stella said, this 'not trying anything to break status quo' is worrying. Too conservative a team. If they are not 'gambling' when they have a superior car, when are they going to ?

[Slahinki]

This is a fair assessment for Mclaren:

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/winn ... prix-2025/

I disagree with that assessment. The P2 was in the bag regardless and pitting at the same lap as the car ahead never works out for the car behind. They should have tried the extension. Oscar had to pit because he fell off at the end there, but Lando kept having good pace.

The swap though, which apparently a lot of people are pointing out, was never going to happen. Even if McLaren asked for it, Lando would object. At least I know I would. What kind of driver willingly gives up a championship lead + more points against both of his rivals, to give his teammate a chance at a win.

Agreed, the only time pitting with the leader works out is if the lead car stuffs up the stop massively and any strategy that relies on Red Bull messing up a stop isn't really a valid strategy at all, IMO.

Also it's fun to see the expected reversal from a certain crowd in the "team orders or let them race" debate.

[CjC]

One thing is for sure, Martin Brundle is right when he says that Mclaren having 2 drivers fighting for the WDC will hurt them more than the Max Bull team.

[FittingMechanics]

A shame really. Good race pace by both cars (and Verstappen) but they really did not use up possibility of going two different strategies with the cars.

In my opinion, Norris should have been the one to pit first, because he was close to undercut territory and by going first you do have element of surprise. The way they went was the worst way to do it, you first pit Piastri who then signals to Red Bull that you are about to pit. It also opens up the possibility that Piastri undercuts Norris (or just gets close to him on exit) which further complicates things. So either Norris first and Piastri long/longer or if you make mistake of pitting Piastri first, then let Norris go long and attempt to build an offset.

Really this race was lost by drivers on Saturday and then again by strategy team on Sunday.

[CjC]

Fans and pundits won’t criticise a team for trying an undercut but stopping on the same lap deserves all the criticism they will receive.
If you recall they got last seasons strategy wrong at Suzuka as well when Norris pitted for his second stop on the same lap as Leclerc’s first stop

But Horner said the undercut wasn't powerful, and Piastri didn't really make much of an impact when he stopped earlier.

The only option was to go long, but then Stella says that was slower.

I wasn’t aware of that info, I’ve done the classic ill informed comment which I hate #hypocrite

[Sergej]

I think this weekend is the karma reaction to Lando's words about not having the best car but having the best drivers couple: actually they had the best car and both missed the win against who is the best driver.

Anyway, on the positive side they do have the best car and in most other tracks they would have taken the victory; on the negative side, they keep failing maximize their chances and they may suffer from internal fight for the WDC, especially if Red Bull manage to massively improve their car (which I doubt though).

[mwillems]

Fans and pundits won’t criticise a team for trying an undercut but stopping on the same lap deserves all the criticism they will receive.
If you recall they got last seasons strategy wrong at Suzuka as well when Norris pitted for his second stop on the same lap as Leclerc’s first stop

But Horner said the undercut wasn't powerful, and Piastri didn't really make much of an impact when he stopped earlier.

The only option was to go long, but then Stella says that was slower.

I wasn’t aware of that info, I’ve done the classic ill informed comment which I hate #hypocrite

Hard tyres take a couple of laps to get going. Coupled with potential traffic it was the only opportunity.

[Emag]

I think this weekend is the karma reaction to Lando's words about not having the best car but having the best drivers couple: actually they had the best car and both missed the win against who is the best driver.

Anyway, on the positive side they do have the best car and in most other tracks they would have taken the victory; on the negative side, they keep failing maximize their chances and they may suffer from internal fight for the WDC, especially if Red Bull manage to massively improve their car (which I doubt though).

Lando is the worst driver when it comes to PR. He just says things that sound really bad, but more often than not, they're blown way out of proportion.

What he meant with that is that McLaren is the only team out of the top 4 which has two drivers consistently performing at the peak-end of their car's performance and that is the truth. He did not say he and/or Oscar are better than any of the other drivers individually.

But RedBull is pretty much a 1-man team at the moment.
At Ferrari, Lewis is still getting to grips with the new team and car, so it's quite obvious, from his performance on-track as well, that he is not going to be at 100% consistently like Leclerc is. (with the exception of China Sprint).
And at Mercedes, Kimi is an 18 year old rookie. He has talent, that's for sure and he was really impressive today actually, but he also hasn't really been on par with George and realistically, you wouldn't expect him to for a while.

McLaren is the only team which has had both drivers qualifying and racing at pretty much equal pace at all races we have had so far.

[Sergej]

I think this weekend is the karma reaction to Lando's words about not having the best car but having the best drivers couple: actually they had the best car and both missed the win against who is the best driver.

Anyway, on the positive side they do have the best car and in most other tracks they would have taken the victory; on the negative side, they keep failing maximize their chances and they may suffer from internal fight for the WDC, especially if Red Bull manage to massively improve their car (which I doubt though).

Lando is the worst driver when it comes to PR. He just says things that sound really bad, but more often than not, they're blown way out of proportion.

What he meant with that is that McLaren is the only team out of the top 4 which has two drivers consistently performing at the peak-end of their car's performance and that is the truth. He did not say he and/or Oscar are better than any of the other drivers individually.

But RedBull is pretty much a 1-man team at the moment.
At Ferrari, Lewis is still getting to grips with the new team and car, so it's quite obvious, from his performance on-track as well, that he is not going to be at 100% consistently like Leclerc is. (with the exception of China Sprint).
And at Mercedes, Kimi is an 18 year old rookie. He has talent, that's for sure and he was really impressive today actually, but he also hasn't really been on par with George and realistically, you wouldn't expect him to for a while.

McLaren is the only team which has had both drivers qualifying and racing at pretty much equal pace at all races we have had so far.

yeah I get your point, and it's right, but he should weigh more his words, because after weekend like this, it's easy to pick his words against him

I have somehow the impression that he tends to justify himself not admitting he has the best car, the litany about "how difficult is this car !" (want to switch with an RB21 ? ). I think that, after how it went last season, he's clearly feeling the pressure of being his title to lose this year.

[mwillems]

You are right. There's one place he needs to do his talking first.

[Ben1980]

If Lando pitted when Oscar did, and Oscar did a similar time, how close was Russell to undercutting him?

[chrisc90]

McLaren should have definitely done better on the strategy. It was clear Lando didn’t have the pace to threaten Max. Max was 2-3 tenths quicker in sector 1 on the first stint and then was making a couple tenths up that Lando had over Max in S1 back at the hairpin. Enough to eke out that gap and keep Lando out of his DRS.

Lando should have pushed earlier on to see if the car had the pace to overtake Max, or at least get in his DRS. If he was unsuccessful, then swap the cars and see if the pacier Oscar could do anything.

Worst case you swap the cars back if it doesn’t work out. If Oscar gets ahead, you can use him to back Max up and give Lando the overtake opportunity.

Only thing it realistically hurts is the championship position, but if you aren’t willing to take gambles on a 2vs1 situation then it’s never going to work out well.

[CjC]

You are right. There's one place he needs to do his talking first.

And that’s in qualifying but it’s become clear being on pole has become ever more important again.

[bosyber]

McLaren should have definitely done better on the strategy. It was clear Lando didn’t have the pace to threaten Max. Max was 2-3 tenths quicker in sector 1 on the first stint and then was making a couple tenths up that Lando had over Max in S1 back at the hairpin. Enough to eke out that gap and keep Lando out of his DRS.

Lando should have pushed earlier on to see if the car had the pace to overtake Max, or at least get in his DRS. If he was unsuccessful, then swap the cars and see if the pacier Oscar could do anything.

Worst case you swap the cars back if it doesn’t work out. If Oscar gets ahead, you can use him to back Max up and give Lando the overtake opportunity.

Only thing it realistically hurts is the championship position, but if you aren’t willing to take gambles on a 2vs1 situation then it’s never going to work out well.

I agree in principle, but not quite in practice.

After the way the McLaren screwed up last year with unclarity and 'we are going for the WDC so let both drivers fight' while ignoring that Norris did have a potential chance at the championship, and not putting Piastri down for not playing the team game time and time again, but particularly for screwing the 1-2 in Italy, I don't see how Norris could risk allowing a swap.

Well, not quite, they should have cleared it up over the winter and admitted, to both drivers, that in hindsight it was the wrong choice we should have aimed high and supported Norris for the WDC and give both clarity making both drivers understand clear and winning rules for the next year. But again, they didn't.

So, how can Norris at all be certain that Piastri would let him past when the pass for the win doesn't work which point Verstappen is 1st in the WDC from the win and Piastri wins points on him from 2nd, while he lost a place, and points in third.

If it does go ahead, Piastri and the team win, he can't be too unhappy because teamwork etc the team got a 1-3 good result etc. But in fact it still means Piastri gains majorly on him, and Verstappen still wins on him too, unless the overtake is done such that he can also take Verstappen (again, can't count on Piastri, who too can count, to play a game of holding up Verstappen that way even if possible).

So for Norris, yes Verstappen won and is now one point behind him, but his other rival, who through misfortune is lagging behind, loses further on him, which might well play a role in coming races and over the season. With no way to get ahead of Verstappen, that's about the best he could get out of this race.


Alternatively, and perhaps more truthfully, the team could have admitted to Norris over the winter that they don't have confidence in him, and that it is up to him to prove himself. In that scenario, the swap is clear but allowing it would be even more problematic for Norris, and the current result is even more a necessary evil for him, as it would effectively make it him against the team. Not a real great prospect for either team or driver either. And effectively, even if they don't say it out loud, this is really a bit the situation for the team I'd say. No clear choice for Norris or Piastri, but Piastri being more assertive means Norris has to fight every inch and can't afford to play a real team game.

[Ben1980]

In Australia, people didn't like that they were told to hold for a couple laps, and it was all about let them race.

Now they could race, it's let's use team orders.

They were allowed to race here, that's a good thing isn't it?