2025 McLaren F1 Team

[Balalu]

8 fastest team... I think we should just focus on next year...

[genarro]

any problems or just changing some inner components?

[organic]

[Seerix]

they mentioned on the broadcast that they are changing floor at McL

[CjC]

Mclaren stopped using those digital advertising boards either side of the cockpit which weighted as little as 200g for extra performance once they realised they were in championship contention.

https://www.racefans.net/2025/02/26/why ... ng-panels/

As I’ve mentioned whilst discussing the lack of paint on the car- they are hell bent on extracting every last drop of performance

[genarro]

1 hour passed and still no running for Norris. They really do have a different running programe

[genarro]

Norris put lap

[Darth-Piekus]

The team definately has a different program than the rest but I would love to see them upping the engine and do a quick lap.

[FittingMechanics]

1 hour passed and still no running for Norris. They really do have a different running programe

They did the same last year. Late to come out, big changes during the lunch. Not going after highest mileage.

Piastrii still managed to put in quite a lot of laps.

[Macklaren]

Zak sounding very confident in his interview with Sky. Says the car is doing what we expect it to

Lando was within a tenth of LEC on his first push lap but dropped 3/10th in the last sector. Lifted to the line?

[Moving Chicane]

Zak sounding very confident in his interview with Sky. Says the car is doing what we expect it to

Lando was within a tenth of LEC on his first push lap but dropped 3/10th in the last sector. Lifted to the line?

He didn't use 8th gear.

[bauc]

Wondering what's happening with Lando Norris?
Update from Alex Kalinauckas in Bahrain: “Lando Norris has only completed a handful of laps so far this afternoon - nearly three-quarters down on Charles Leclerc in at Ferrari - but the team tells me this is all to do with the time it takes to make changes they planned to make for the second session, rather than a specific issue.”

[FittingMechanics]

Wondering what's happening with Lando Norris?
Update from Alex Kalinauckas in Bahrain: “Lando Norris has only completed a handful of laps so far this afternoon - nearly three-quarters down on Charles Leclerc in at Ferrari - but the team tells me this is all to do with the time it takes to make changes they planned to make for the second session, rather than a specific issue.”

Team changed the floor over the break, it usually takes at least an hour from the running. Then did plenty of correlation/flow wiz laps.

On his first proper lap he put in P3. I think it's under control. It's a shame this red flag will cut into his running time but it's nothing too problematic.

[Macklaren]

Wondering what's happening with Lando Norris?
Update from Alex Kalinauckas in Bahrain: “Lando Norris has only completed a handful of laps so far this afternoon - nearly three-quarters down on Charles Leclerc in at Ferrari - but the team tells me this is all to do with the time it takes to make changes they planned to make for the second session, rather than a specific issue.”

Team changed the floor over the break, it usually takes at least an hour from the running. Then did plenty of correlation/flow wiz laps.

On his first proper lap he put in P3. I think it's under control. It's a shame this red flag will cut into his running time but it's nothing too problematic.

Pretty sure F1 will change the schedule for extra half hour running in the coming days to compensate for the loss of time here

[taperoo2k]

No they don’t have equal footing, but they wouldn’t say McLaren has some input on the design phase if that wasn’t true to some degree, which what the guy was denying.

In any case, this was McLaren’s best choice. They get one of the power units which will likely be close to the best, if not the best, while also having more input than a normal customer.

They considered RBPT for a short while, but RBPT is way too inexperienced and I doubt they will be competitive in 2026, whereas a Ferrari-powered McLaren will never happen.

The only other option was to develop it themselves like RedBull, but it’s too late for that. It could be a consideration for the next reg cycle, assuming McLaren keeps an upward trend.

The guy wasn't denying that, though. Only arguing about the degree to which it was actually true. Because this is all about nuance and degrees of truth, if you yourself even agree that they aren't on equal footing. You simply side on the collaboration being much stronger, while the other person believing the collaboration being less strong. You're not fundamentally disagreeing on the core argument here, which you've been trying to portray them as doing, and the only reason I felt like speaking up.

McLaren have a more preferential deal with Mercedes vs other customer teams by the looks of it. It allows for a certain degree of input on the PU design, helpful when you build your own gearboxes. And it sounds like they might be first in the queue for newer parts that the works team will obviously get first. I'd not call it a semi works team deal. More like an Enhanced Customer Deal. At the end of the day, if the Mercedes F1 team wins the constructors or McLaren does? Still great marketing for Mercedes "Look even a customer team can win with a Mercedes AMG HPP Engine in F1".

It could well be a great move by Zak Brown signing a new deal with Mercedes for the PU's. We'll find out in '26.