2025 McLaren F1 Team

[Ben1980]

Wow, that was heart in mouth for Lando in the end. I thought he had Russell, but Russell's was aggressive in defence.

Well done team, great result, shame it wasn't a 1-2.

Especially with his 3 offs already. Think he may have risked more if he didn't have those.

[Emag]

Good recovery for Lando, but his race craft is poor!!
He looks like a newbie when setting up an overtake. Lesson learned for him. He needs to qualify better.

Yep, really got outclassed by Leclerc there. Beautiful by him, parking it on the apex of T2, slowing Lando enough for him not to be able to have a shot in T4. And Lando didn't change the approach at all. Like seriously, if the car+tire didn't have superior traction out of T2, he would just be stuck behind Leclerc the whole race. And the lockup earlier certainly didn't help.

Too many mistakes overall as well. Letting the car roll on the start, amateur-ish and unnecessary.
Then overtaking Lewis outside the track and not giving the position back immediately. Lost a lot of time again.
With Russell, I mean come on, the car has been untouchable at T4 all race and Lando still tries to go round the outside of T1? What is the reasoning? Just calm the car down and setup the exit for that shot in T4 mate, come on.

If Lando continues to drive like this, then McLaren needs to switch focus and support Oscar for the title bid. I don't know what's going on with him, but he isn't looking good. I hope he bounces back, but it's 3 in a row now and mistakes are piling up already.

[FittingMechanics]

Looking back, this would have been an easy 1-2 if Norris made less mistakes and was more clinical. I still think he drove well but one less mistake and he takes 2nd.

1. No penalty at start allows him to undercut Russell
2. Better handling of restart against Ferraris (cost him 3 or so seconds and tire life)
3. Better move against LEC and RUS.

[Ben1980]

The start penalty, they said he put it in gear and the car moved unexpectedly, he tried to catch it but couldn't. It sounded like just sonething that can happen but it's being called a mistake? Did he do sonething himself?

[BMMR61]

So the talk is a penalty of sorts for Russell for DRS infringement. It looked like the whole race control and stewarding was a mess today with slow and inconsistent penalty decisions. The live data was a mess, making it impossible if you were watching live timing. F1 website still doesn't have official results from Saturday! Amateur hour.

[Ground Effect]

An error filled weekend for Lando, highlighted more by Oscar being pretty much faultless. Happy the team is widening the gap in the constructors. Let's see which driver wants it the most.

[Ben1980]

So the talk is a penalty of sorts for Russell for DRS infringement. It looked like the whole race control and stewarding was a mess today with slow and inconsistent penalty decisions. The live data was a mess, making it impossible if you were watching live timing. F1 website still doesn't have official results from Saturday! Amateur hour.

I can't see how it isn't a penalty.

[ringo]

Good recovery for Lando, but his race craft is poor!!
He looks like a newbie when setting up an overtake. Lesson learned for him. He needs to qualify better.

Yep, really got outclassed by Leclerc there. Beautiful by him, parking it on the apex of T2, slowing Lando enough for him not to be able to have a shot in T4. And Lando didn't change the approach at all. Like seriously, if the car+tire didn't have superior traction out of T2, he would just be stuck behind Leclerc the whole race. And the lockup earlier certainly didn't help.

Too many mistakes overall as well. Letting the car roll on the start, amateur-ish and unnecessary.
Then overtaking Lewis outside the track and not giving the position back immediately. Lost a lot of time again.
With Russell, I mean come on, the car has been untouchable at T4 all race and Lando still tries to go round the outside of T1? What is the reasoning? Just calm the car down and setup the exit for that shot in T4 mate, come on.

If Lando continues to drive like this, then McLaren needs to switch focus and support Oscar for the title bid. I don't know what's going on with him, but he isn't looking good. I hope he bounces back, but it's 3 in a row now and mistakes are piling up already.

It's a good time for Lando to have these mistakes. He will improve. He's also going to ensure he qualifies on the front row. He's talented, but a little disorganized mentally. Oscar has the mental edge, but Lando to me is the more talented. Lucky for him Max is having a bad year. The title race seems down to Oscar, Russel and Lando.

[bananapeel23]

Looking back, this would have been an easy 1-2 if Norris made less mistakes and was more clinical. I still think he drove well but one less mistake and he takes 2nd.

1. No penalty at start allows him to undercut Russell
2. Better handling of restart against Ferraris (cost him 3 or so seconds and tire life)
3. Better move against LEC and RUS.

Leclerc was clearly P2 on pace here, it is not an easy 1-2 without the mistakes. Ferrari were targeting a M-M-S strategy and were forced onto a M-S-H by the safety car. If the safety car doesn't happen we probably get a Pia-Lec-Rus or Pia-Lec-Nor podium.

[Emag]

Looking back, this would have been an easy 1-2 if Norris made less mistakes and was more clinical. I still think he drove well but one less mistake and he takes 2nd.

1. No penalty at start allows him to undercut Russell
2. Better handling of restart against Ferraris (cost him 3 or so seconds and tire life)
3. Better move against LEC and RUS.

Leclerc was clearly P2 on pace here, it is not an easy 1-2 without the mistakes. Ferrari were targeting a M-S-S strategy and were forced onto a M-S-H by the safety car. If the safety car doesn't happen we probably get a Pia-Lec-Rus or Pia-Lec-Nor podium.

I don't know what Ferrari plan was initially, but before the safety car, Leclerc was on the mediums, not softs.
Pointless to speculate, but Charles didn't have the pace to overtake Russell even with a 7 lap delta during the second stint. I doubt he would be able to get it done on track on the final stints even if the safety car doesn't interfere.

[Cs98]

So the talk is a penalty of sorts for Russell for DRS infringement. It looked like the whole race control and stewarding was a mess today with slow and inconsistent penalty decisions. The live data was a mess, making it impossible if you were watching live timing. F1 website still doesn't have official results from Saturday! Amateur hour.

I can't see how it isn't a penalty.

If he gave back the time and the issue is with a spec part I can see it being overlooked. He said he pressed the radio button and the DRS opened?

[CjC]

Looking back, this would have been an easy 1-2 if Norris made less mistakes and was more clinical. I still think he drove well but one less mistake and he takes 2nd.

1. No penalty at start allows him to undercut Russell
2. Better handling of restart against Ferraris (cost him 3 or so seconds and tire life)
3. Better move against LEC and RUS.

Leclerc was clearly P2 on pace here, it is not an easy 1-2 without the mistakes. Ferrari were targeting a M-S-S strategy and were forced onto a M-S-H by the safety car. If the safety car doesn't happen we probably get a Pia-Lec-Rus or Pia-Lec-Nor podium.

I don't know what Ferrari plan was initially, but before the safety car, Leclerc was on the mediums, not softs.
Pointless to speculate, but Charles didn't have the pace to overtake Russell even with a 7 lap delta during the second stint. I doubt he would be able to get it done on track on the final stints even if the safety car doesn't interfere.

And to add to this, once Leclerc stopped enjoying his tyre off set on his second medium tyre stint he was no faster than Lando on 7 lap older tyre.
FYI Russell had 4 lap older tyres compared to Leclerc

[bananapeel23]

Looking back, this would have been an easy 1-2 if Norris made less mistakes and was more clinical. I still think he drove well but one less mistake and he takes 2nd.

1. No penalty at start allows him to undercut Russell
2. Better handling of restart against Ferraris (cost him 3 or so seconds and tire life)
3. Better move against LEC and RUS.

Leclerc was clearly P2 on pace here, it is not an easy 1-2 without the mistakes. Ferrari were targeting a M-S-S strategy and were forced onto a M-S-H by the safety car. If the safety car doesn't happen we probably get a Pia-Lec-Rus or Pia-Lec-Nor podium.

I don't know what Ferrari plan was initially, but before the safety car, Leclerc was on the mediums, not softs.
Pointless to speculate, but Charles didn't have the pace to overtake Russell even with a 7 lap delta during the second stint. I doubt he would be able to get it done on track on the final stints even if the safety car doesn't interfere.

Sorry, it was a typo. I meant M-S-S. I think Leclerc was saving tyres behind Russell or waiting for the perfect time to go for a massive push lap and undercut, knowing that Mercedes would also go onto a set of softs.

[Emag]

Leclerc was clearly P2 on pace here, it is not an easy 1-2 without the mistakes. Ferrari were targeting a M-S-S strategy and were forced onto a M-S-H by the safety car. If the safety car doesn't happen we probably get a Pia-Lec-Rus or Pia-Lec-Nor podium.

I don't know what Ferrari plan was initially, but before the safety car, Leclerc was on the mediums, not softs.
Pointless to speculate, but Charles didn't have the pace to overtake Russell even with a 7 lap delta during the second stint. I doubt he would be able to get it done on track on the final stints even if the safety car doesn't interfere.

Sorry, it was a typo. I meant M-S-S. I think Leclerc was saving tyres behind Russell or waiting for the perfect time to go for a massive push lap and undercut, knowing that Mercedes would also go onto a set of softs.

I am fairly certain Ferrari started with the mediums because they would have liked to try the 1-stop and go to the hards later. But when the hards turned out to be sh*t, they pulled Leclerc in and put him on the mediums again for the 2-stopper.

They would have been on the softs for the final stint while everyone else would have been on the mediums. Leclerc would have had good pace for 5-6 laps and then would fall off the cliff. Russell managed it, but his pace was horrible. He finished 15 seconds behind Oscar in the end.

I don't think Ferrari had anything better than P3 in hand here, because Russell had really good pace. Leclerc wasn't managing, his pace just fizzled out, couldn't get closer to Russell on the second stint once the tire delta faded out. Of course, the safety car ruined whatever chances they had of getting Russell, but their options were really limited to begin with.

After going M-M they either push the middle stint long to go onto softs, or have a normal middle stint length but go onto hards. Both really bad options. They would have lost a lot of time if they went long on the middle stint. Plus, Lando would 100% undercut Leclerc, so he would have to make 2 overtakes on-track with a fragile used soft tire to get that P2.

[mwillems]

So the talk is a penalty of sorts for Russell for DRS infringement. It looked like the whole race control and stewarding was a mess today with slow and inconsistent penalty decisions. The live data was a mess, making it impossible if you were watching live timing. F1 website still doesn't have official results from Saturday! Amateur hour.

I can't see how it isn't a penalty.

Because he ensured he lost more time than he gained when he lifted off. No different to giving a position back.