2025 McLaren F1 Team

[Ben1980]

A big shame we didn't get 5th 1-2 in a row. But this was bound to happen.

I can see at least two positives.
1. It would be super unfair if Piastri while ahead in the championship lost his lead (or WDC in the end) due to a singular engine DNF. Not to mention the conspiracy theories it would start.
2. Norris will take eventual loss in WDC better with this DNF. If he ends up losing it wasn't just his mistakes, it was bad luck as well.

Great drive by both drivers. Norris probably had this in the bag if he was just a tiny bit faster in Q3. Imagine if he lost a win by this engine failure.

Imo, the only reason Lando didn't already have an absolutely huge points gap to make up is because of luck being ON his side. I think statistically, this DNF actually neutralised the "lucky" points hauls hes had in the WDC

In just the last few races, if he wasn't lucky that Oscar got the Silverstone penalty or lucky enough to luck into the optimal strategy by being out of position in Hungary, the gap would be 48 points. If Lando wasn't similarly out of position in Baku there'd be another 6 points swing towards Oscar.

Hes had probably over 20 points worth of points just from being out of position and having the luxury of pitting when Oscar couldn't because he wasn't even in contention for the win at the time.

This is all jumping the gun anyway, because unless something changes and Oscars performance drops off a cliff, if things continue as they've been, the only story will be that regardless of this DNF, Oscar won because he was consistently better.

My point here isn't really to poop on Lando, but to properly give Oscar the recognition of absolutely, definitely being the best driver at Macca this year and deserving the lead he has, even with today's DNF.

Oscar is deserving of his lead. But, not sure any of it has been luck on either side.

Trying to belittle Lando clawing points back on luck isnt true. Hes performed, just took a bit longer to settle. Which is why Oscar deserves the lead.

[mwillems]

Luck swings both ways.

[McLarenHonda]

Piastri has been amazing this season! Yeah the car is great but apart from Imola he has been excellent…and already today he proved he got his lesson from Imola by instantly covering the outside at Turn against Max! He truly deserves this championship…

There’s only one “what if” playing on my mind all the time! What if Piastri was in Norris’s position last year after Miami but with this year’s form? He could have won it…but coulda, shoulda, woulda!

[Ben1980]

Piastri has been amazing this season! Yeah the car is great but apart from Imola he has been excellent…and already today he proved he got his lesson from Imola by instantly covering the outside at Turn against Max! He truly deserves this championship…

There’s only one “what if” playing on my mind all the time! What if Piastri was in Norris’s position last year after Miami but with this year’s form? He could have won it…but coulda, shoulda, woulda!

He has been excellent, no doubt. But, even with his excellence, he would have been behind Lando in the standings before the race, if Lando didn't balls it up in Canada.

[Ben1980]

Luck swings both ways.

Of course. And there has been luck on both sides the more I think.

[geogate]

Stella is implying the issue with Lando was Chassis side
“We’ve identified an issue on the chassis side, and we will do a full review before we go racing again in Monza. This is the first technical problem for the team after a long run of faultless reliability. Thank you to the entire team for their continued effort which led to another victory, as we continue our journey together.”

Only thing i can think is some failure between an auxiliary oil tank and the engine. The ICE may well be fine

[FittingMechanics]

Luck swings both ways.

Exactly. All the talk of Lando being lucky to gain some points here and there was reset today. With a season this long usually luck evens out. Norris lost a lot of points today and another big one when he crashed into Piastri (with Piastri not getting significant damage). Piastri was unlucky in Australia and Hungary.

I think Piastri is showing more composure which is helping him stay ahead. Norris seemed to be rattled that Piastri took the points lead which led to Norris overdriving. I'd love for them both to do well so hopefully this gets Norris into a better headspace and we can see both of them execute at the highest level.

[FittingMechanics]

About the ICE. I would fully expect this engine to be a older one. The team fully expected to dominate this race and with it being so high downforce it probably doesn't require the strongest engine you can have. I wouldn't worry about penalties.

[CjC]

Stella is implying the issue with Lando was Chassis side
“We’ve identified an issue on the chassis side, and we will do a full review before we go racing again in Monza. This is the first technical problem for the team after a long run of faultless reliability. Thank you to the entire team for their continued effort which led to another victory, as we continue our journey together.”

Only thing i can think is some failure between an auxiliary oil tank and the engine. The ICE may well be fine

Not sure how I feel about this.
On the one hand it’s good to know that there isn’t an inherent problem with the Merc.
On the other is kinda crushing to know that it was McLarens own undoing for fall short of the 5th straight 1-2 and for Lando to drop 18 points.
It’s just sheight how ever you look at it

[Slahinki]

Norris has now had both of the teams two reliability issues this season. Something needs to happen to Piastri's car, or the championship will be decided before the last race.

[geogate]

For me I think since Canada, Norris has been a lot more relaxed about the Championship - hes looked a bit more like the old Lando to me, enjoying racing. He took his retirement today on the chin like a champ

[CHT]

Piastri is driving like a WDC now. He is making very few mistakes during the race while always having some extra pace in qualifying when it matters.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

For me I think since Canada, Norris has been a lot more relaxed about the Championship - hes looked a bit more like the old Lando to me, enjoying racing. He took his retirement today on the chin like a champ

I agree and I do wonder whether this will actually allow Lando to simply get into a mindset of "the title is unlikely unless Oscar has a DNF" and just relax even more and perform his best.

I can't help but feel that Oscar still has a reliability issue due, though I hope not. I also can't help but feel that Oscar and Max are due a coming together...based on nothing whatsoever.

[geogate]

Can you just imagine what the "Mclaren favour Lando" crowd will make of a chassis side DNF for Oscar

[BMMR61]

Can you just imagine what the "Mclaren favour Lando" crowd will make of a chassis side DNF for Oscar

Yeah, just kind of exploded that ridiculous idea. Arguably the most transparent team in F1. There was palpable grief over the loss of the #4 car across the McLaren personnel. Another great 1-2 lost.

Oscar does seem to have improved even across the 15 races this year. He seems to have a little extra performance that he holds in reserve, in other words he drives within himself nearly all the time. Yesterday he always looked like he was just setting a pace which he could regulate as and when needed.