2025 McLaren F1 Team

[FittingMechanics]

We've been pushing more in the FPs all year.

But that is not the point. The car did 1:27.5 in higher temperatures and then 1:27.9 in qualifying.

Only explanation is they moved to a stronger race setup, maybe expecting qualy gap to be bigger.

Q3 was a 1:27:3 though….

That is what I get for checking times on my phone.

My bad.

But still, in that high temp they did 27.5.

[mwillems]

I don`t understand this. How can a car lost half a second from P3 to Qualifying?

We've been pushing more in the FPs all year.

But that is not the point. The car did 1:27.5 in higher temperatures and then 1:27.9 in qualifying.

Only explanation is they moved to a stronger race setup, maybe expecting qualy gap to be bigger.

And the heat, but that is only part of it.

We will get some of the time back through better thermal deg tomorrow.

[bauc]

Ah Lando......Oscar.....

So disappointed from today..... its a long season but still;...... come on guys, lets deliver tomorrow!

Mclaren!

[ringo]

Now is the time for the errors. So still looking good for the season.
Oscar should be able to make light work of Max, assuming he can pressure him to use up and overheat the tyres.
Lando can move through the field and try for a P4 or podium. If there's a safety car he can try for the win.

[AR3-GP]

Well without the tow that Max got, Oscar would be on pole to be fair.

I listened to Oscar's interview. He was careful to not admit he felt he could have done better. He started to suggest the lap was not the best but then interrupted himself and simply said it was the best he could have done. Stella clearly said the potential of the car was not fully utilized.

Of course there's always more to be done. But the conversation wouldn't be happening if Max wasn't artificially boosted.

Verstappen had already managed to put in a banker lap that was quicker than Oscar’s which also shouldn’t have been possible if the Mclaren was fully exploited.

I sense Stella’s irritation (he is an animated character) but I also sense his restraint because he knows he has to support his drivers in the most positive way as those are his drivers for the foreseeable future. Stella knows he is not working with Schumacher or Alonso, but instead drivers who are more of a “project” who he believes he can “fix”.

[CjC]

Russell post quali regarding the Mclaren:

"Everyone except McLaren struggles with tyre overheating and the harder the tyre compound the less they overheat. So you'll see the biggest discrepancy on the softest tyre.

"But even on the medium, there was a lot of deg on Friday. So when you get to the race your tyres start overheating again and that's where McLaren will step back up compared to the rest of us. So if Oscar can get into the lead, he'll disappear. Just like in Bahrain. But if he doesn't, it could be a good race."

[mwillems]

I listened to Oscar's interview. He was careful to not admit he felt he could have done better. He started to suggest the lap was not the best but then interrupted himself and simply said it was the best he could have done. Stella clearly said the potential of the car was not fully utilized.

Of course there's always more to be done. But the conversation wouldn't be happening if Max wasn't artificially boosted.

Verstappen had already managed to put in a banker lap that was quicker than Oscar’s which also shouldn’t have been possible if the Mclaren was fully exploited.

I sense Stella’s irritation (he is an animated character) but I also sense his restraint because he knows he has to support his drivers in the most positive way as those are his drivers for the foreseeable future. Stella knows he is not working with Schumacher or Alonso, but instead drivers who are more of a “project” who he believes he can “fix”.

You're really laying it on thick now

If an off day is being .15 slower than you should be going, I'll take it. If he keep staying at the front all season long whilst others ebb and flow, it'll come.

As it is, he does need to improve, but that is part and parcel of being a young driver starting your third season. We said the same last year, he improved, and this year so far he has improved again. No reason to think it will stop now.

[Mandrake]

I hadn’t realised Yuki gave Max a tow for that pole lap….

If RB can do that whenever things get close and McLaren don't pick a driver to back in the WDC it could end up punishing the team, providing McLaren don't run away with things in the summer heat

I haven't seen it so this is just my guess but Red bull could do it this way because Max did his lap much later than Yuki so on his inlap Yuki could give a tow. It was kind of the same for Lando earlier in Q when he picked up a small tow from Oscar.

If they purely used Yuki to give a tow then yes, RB are at an advantage for having a clear no1

[AR3-GP]

Of course there's always more to be done. But the conversation wouldn't be happening if Max wasn't artificially boosted.

Verstappen had already managed to put in a banker lap that was quicker than Oscar’s which also shouldn’t have been possible if the Mclaren was fully exploited.

I sense Stella’s irritation (he is an animated character) but I also sense his restraint because he knows he has to support his drivers in the most positive way as those are his drivers for the foreseeable future. Stella knows he is not working with Schumacher or Alonso, but instead drivers who are more of a “project” who he believes he can “fix”.

You're really laying it on thick now

If an off day is being .15 slower than you should be going, I'll take it. If he keep staying at the front all season long whilst others ebb and flow, it'll come.

As it is, he does need to improve, but that is part and parcel of being a young driver starting your third season. We said the same last year, he improved, and this year so far he has improved again. No reason to think it will stop now.

Sorry if it was unclear but I’m not being critical of Oscar. I think you’ve seen my stance on him in the past. As you said, it’s only 0.15 off. If that’s the worst then it’s not bad at all. It was only meant to talk about Mclarens potential today. He got the pole last time out. Australia could have gone either way in the race. Very small things and he is only in his 3rd year fighting for the championship. It’s impressive. He’s going to give Russell and Verstappen a much harder time tomorrow.

[venkyhere]

I listened to Oscar's interview. He was careful to not admit he felt he could have done better. He started to suggest the lap was not the best but then interrupted himself and simply said it was the best he could have done. Stella clearly said the potential of the car was not fully utilized.

Of course there's always more to be done. But the conversation wouldn't be happening if Max wasn't artificially boosted.

Verstappen had already managed to put in a banker lap that was quicker than Oscar’s which also shouldn’t have been possible if the Mclaren was fully exploited.

I sense Stella’s irritation (he is an animated character) but I also sense his restraint because he knows he has to support his drivers in the most positive way as those are his drivers for the foreseeable future. Stella knows he is not working with Schumacher or Alonso, but instead drivers who are more of a “project” who he believes he can “fix”.

What shocked me more, was not the tow-assisted pole lap from Max (where S2 and S3 were yellow, offset by the purple S1) ; it his first Q3 lap that was 0.001 faster than Piastri's first Q3 lap before the red flag. How did having nearly double the quantity of fuel (one extra set of out+hot+in laps worth) still allow Max to be faster ? That means Piastri left a lot on the table with his first Q3 lap.
I haven't seen any stats that show 'ideal lap' v 'actual lap' numbers, but I bet that the McLaren was the car which had the biggest deviation w.r.t the other three teams.
Dare I say it, it seems that 'drivers' are the weakest link in 2025 for team McLaren. The car has no weakness.

[BMMR61]

I'm struggling to see evidence that Oscar's time in Q3 was somehow "off". Maybe a few hundredths but as has been said Max got a tow from Tsunoda to start his quick lap AND the Red Bull in his hands has proven to be very competitive on fast corner tracks.

I'm looking forward to a straight Max v Oscar fight, it promises to be somewhat different in character to Max v Lando. Oscar doesn't telegraph his overtakes he nails them and Max hasn't had to deal with that sort of thing since 2021 with Lewis. It seems surreal that we haven't really had any true Max v Oscar moments that I can recall apart from the Abu Dhabi GP "yep, move of a Word Champion" moment. Hoping for really hot conditions to suit the MCL39.

[BMMR61]

Just as the RB19 and RB20 have proven to be very tricky cars to handle on the limit, so the MCL39 is proving a bit less forgiving than it's predecessor. I'm wondering if the progression that McLaren have taken is somehow a bit like what took Red Bull into troubles last year when they got lost. Interesting times coming, hoping Lando can get another strong start and put himself into contention for decent points tomorrow.

[trinidefender]

Having confidence in both a recovery drive from Norris tomorrow and for Piastri to get Verstappen.

[AR3-GP]

I'm struggling to see evidence that Oscar's time in Q3 was somehow "off". Maybe a few hundredths but as has been said Max got a tow from Tsunoda to start his quick lap AND the Red Bull in his hands has proven to be very competitive on fast corner tracks.

S1 was tentative, lifting more than Max in the high speed despite more downforce. Maybe he got scared because of Lando's crash. Only 2 tenths quicker than Norris FP3 time. Norris leading Piastri all qualy until the crash. Stella saying the car had more potential. Mercedes believed they dropped 2 tenths on their lap. All the clues are there that Mclaren should have been a good chunk quicker (3-4 tenths) with Mercedes slotting just behind, as the previous races.

[Paa]

I think Piastri views Lando as his main rival to the title. So he just played it safe once Norris was out.
I'm sure he would have taken more risk if both are competing for the pole, but there was no need anymore from his point of view.

With this logic, Lando's mistake costed the whole team.