2025 McLaren F1 Team

[FittingMechanics]

Also yet another example of why B-teams should be banned.

What on earth did a B team have any effect on how the race weekend played out?

Lawson quite obviously tugging Tsunoda along in DRS.

Sainz used the same to protect himself in Singapore. I don't like junior teams but I don't think this was orchestrated (unlike that Ricciardo fastest lap)

[CjC]

I also think going medium at the start but not overtaking and then being forced to run a super long medium stint didn't help with the pace.

Lando losing two positions in first laps didn't help either.

Race to forget but a warning to the team. Their battle for WDC cannot and should not mean they choose suboptimal strategies and leave the points on the table for Max.

I get the logic with the medium to get a good launch but once again I preferred the Red Bull strategy- which was McLarens own strategy last season!

Lando said the Red Bull was unbelievably fast in places this race- which it was but it was always on the right tyres at the right time.

Least we have this to look forward to soon when Courtenay arrives

[AR3-GP]

Oscar really knocked the stuffing out of his Mclaren this weekend. Will he need a third chassis in as many days?

[bauc]

What an epic disaster, a weekend to forget.

[maxxer]

He is lucky to avoid the grid penalty in Singapore as he is always such a good boy

[AR3-GP]

"I think Lando had a strong race. He raced to the limit of the potential that was available in the car," Stella said. "I think no other driver in Lando's car could have scored more.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/stell ... /10761468/

[CjC]

"I think Lando had a strong race. He raced to the limit of the potential that was available in the car," Stella said. "I think no other driver in Lando's car could have scored more.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/stell ... /10761468/

….under the circumstances that played out.

The car and both drivers were more than capable to finish on the podium.

Strategy, car set up and qualifying nailed Lando to 7th.

This is just classic Sir Alex Ferguson type of management to defend the players (Lando) to the media

[Ben1980]

"I think Lando had a strong race. He raced to the limit of the potential that was available in the car," Stella said. "I think no other driver in Lando's car could have scored more.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/stell ... /10761468/

….under the circumstances that played out.

The car and both drivers were more than capable to finish on the podium.

Strategy, car set up and qualifying nailed Lando to 7th.

This is just classic Sir Alex Ferguson type of management to defend the players (Lando) to the media

2nd and 3rd should have been the start positions, and then likely finishing positions.

But when in the field, this car isnt designed for that, especially on this track.

[AR3-GP]

Piastri really struggled on the last 3 street tracks. Monaco, Canada, Baku. There's a trend. So I would expect Lando to have him covered in Singapore (like last year)

[CjC]

Agreed

[BMMR61]

Plenty of hyperbole around Oscar's weekend and rightly so. I was amazed at his Q3 shocker but then his attempt at a race was beyond fathomable, given he has been the most steady, reliable driver in F1. There's a reason for everything and I wonder if this can be reasoned down to him taking his eye off the immediate and looking at the big prize down the road. I'm sure Webber will have him aside and will be regrounding him after clearly he had become unhinged from his normal state.

It looks a bit like the Red Bull aero sensitivity issues have been transferred to McLaren. The car is seemingly more susceptible to wind changes, following another car and so on. Some head scratching to be done before another street circuit.

[venkyhere]

Piastri will feel he 'escaped jail' this weekend, despite his mistakes. Here's why :
- points gap could have been slashed by 15 or more points, ended up getting slashed only by 9 (3 last weekend from team orders, 6 this weekend due to Norris finishing where he started)
- Q mistake and R mistake happened the same weekend. From the law of averages, 'putting in the wall' mistakes are bound to catch up. Instead of driving a race from P20 to P10 due to a Q mistake, or instead of DNFing a race from pole position, this was an all-rolled-into-one weekend.

No matter which way it's spun, this was the golden opportunity that Norris had, and he didn't take it. Because he was too afraid of a DNF himself as he was chasing people like Tsunoda/Lawson (who are both junior K-mag basically) and was afraid to 'make-a-daring-move' into T15 or T3 or some other place where people don't expect it, instead of the conventional T1 (glaring examples of which, we have from Piastri - like in Jeddah where he passed Hamilton before T22, like in Monza where he passed LeClerc through Lesmo1 etc). So the risk v/s reward for Norris was what ? If taking the risk fails and ends up in a DNF, there will be no change to the WDC standings, while if the risk succeeds, he would have ended up slashing the points by 12 or 15. Instead, he has taken the no-risk approach, and settled for a slashing of points gap of 6.

Summary : Norris is allowing Piastri to win this WDC unchallenged, because he isn't punishing his teammates mistakes, on tracks where he can easily be the dominant one, purely driving style wise.

This is my objective analysis, neither driver I have emotional attachment to.

[Ben1980]

Piastri will feel he 'escaped jail' this weekend, despite his mistakes. Here's why :
- points gap could have been slashed by 15 or more points, ended up getting slashed only by 9 (3 last weekend from team orders, 6 this weekend due to Norris finishing where he started)
- Q mistake and R mistake happened the same weekend. From the law of averages, 'putting in the wall' mistakes are bound to catch up. Instead of driving a race from P20 to P10 due to a Q mistake, or instead of DNFing a race from pole position, this was an all-rolled-into-one weekend.

No matter which way it's spun, this was the golden opportunity that Norris had, and he didn't take it. Because he was too afraid of a DNF himself as he was chasing people like Tsunoda/Lawson (who are both junior K-mag basically) and was afraid to 'make-a-daring-move' into T15 or T3 or some other place where people don't expect it, instead of the conventional T1 (glaring examples of which, we have from Piastri - like in Jeddah where he passed Hamilton before T22, like in Monza where he passed LeClerc through Lesmo1 etc). So the risk v/s reward for Norris was what ? If taking the risk fails and ends up in a DNF, there will be no change to the WDC standings, while if the risk succeeds, he would have ended up slashing the points by 12 or 15. Instead, he has taken the no-risk approach, and settled for a slashing of points gap of 6.

Summary : Norris is allowing Piastri to win this WDC unchallenged, because he isn't punishing his teammates mistakes, on tracks where he can easily be the dominant one, purely driving style wise.

This is my objective analysis, neither driver I have emotional attachment to.

How many non offsett tyre overtakes did you see when both cars had drs? In the whole race.

[PierreW]

Piastri will feel he 'escaped jail' this weekend, despite his mistakes. Here's why :
- points gap could have been slashed by 15 or more points, ended up getting slashed only by 9 (3 last weekend from team orders, 6 this weekend due to Norris finishing where he started)
- Q mistake and R mistake happened the same weekend. From the law of averages, 'putting in the wall' mistakes are bound to catch up. Instead of driving a race from P20 to P10 due to a Q mistake, or instead of DNFing a race from pole position, this was an all-rolled-into-one weekend.

No matter which way it's spun, this was the golden opportunity that Norris had, and he didn't take it. Because he was too afraid of a DNF himself as he was chasing people like Tsunoda/Lawson (who are both junior K-mag basically) and was afraid to 'make-a-daring-move' into T15 or T3 or some other place where people don't expect it, instead of the conventional T1 (glaring examples of which, we have from Piastri - like in Jeddah where he passed Hamilton before T22, like in Monza where he passed LeClerc through Lesmo1 etc). So the risk v/s reward for Norris was what ? If taking the risk fails and ends up in a DNF, there will be no change to the WDC standings, while if the risk succeeds, he would have ended up slashing the points by 12 or 15. Instead, he has taken the no-risk approach, and settled for a slashing of points gap of 6.

Summary : Norris is allowing Piastri to win this WDC unchallenged, because he isn't punishing his teammates mistakes, on tracks where he can easily be the dominant one, purely driving style wise.

This is my objective analysis, neither driver I have emotional attachment to.

It is a missed opportunity for Norris, but let's not forget that McLaren wasn't dominant this week end for once and had a car which was struggling for the first time of the season, which explain why Piastri went two times into the wall while Norris was uncomfortable during qualifications and even the race, without forgetting to mention the sloppy pit stop which affected his race once again.

With a car struggling for the first time of the season, difficult conditions in qualifications, a DRS train that made overtakes nearly impossible in Baku, Norris only finished 7th.

But he still dominated Piastri completely this week end. The main difference this year between these two has been the raw mechanical failure Norris suffered in Zandvort. Without that, Norris would be extremely close and probably the favourite to win it all.

I can't understand how people are bashing Norris after the week end Piastri had.

[PierreW]

Piastri will feel he 'escaped jail' this weekend, despite his mistakes. Here's why :
- points gap could have been slashed by 15 or more points, ended up getting slashed only by 9 (3 last weekend from team orders, 6 this weekend due to Norris finishing where he started)
- Q mistake and R mistake happened the same weekend. From the law of averages, 'putting in the wall' mistakes are bound to catch up. Instead of driving a race from P20 to P10 due to a Q mistake, or instead of DNFing a race from pole position, this was an all-rolled-into-one weekend.

No matter which way it's spun, this was the golden opportunity that Norris had, and he didn't take it. Because he was too afraid of a DNF himself as he was chasing people like Tsunoda/Lawson (who are both junior K-mag basically) and was afraid to 'make-a-daring-move' into T15 or T3 or some other place where people don't expect it, instead of the conventional T1 (glaring examples of which, we have from Piastri - like in Jeddah where he passed Hamilton before T22, like in Monza where he passed LeClerc through Lesmo1 etc). So the risk v/s reward for Norris was what ? If taking the risk fails and ends up in a DNF, there will be no change to the WDC standings, while if the risk succeeds, he would have ended up slashing the points by 12 or 15. Instead, he has taken the no-risk approach, and settled for a slashing of points gap of 6.

Summary : Norris is allowing Piastri to win this WDC unchallenged, because he isn't punishing his teammates mistakes, on tracks where he can easily be the dominant one, purely driving style wise.

This is my objective analysis, neither driver I have emotional attachment to.

It is a missed opportunity for Norris, but let's not forget that McLaren wasn't dominant this week end for once and had a car which was struggling for the first time of the season, which explain why Piastri went two times into the wall while Norris was uncomfortable during qualifications and even the race, without forgetting to mention the sloppy pit stop which affected his race once again.

With a car struggling for the first time of the season, difficult conditions in qualifications, a DRS train that made overtakes nearly impossible in Baku, Norris only finished 7th.

But he still dominated Piastri completely this week end. The main difference this year between these two has been the raw mechanical failure Norris suffered in Zandvort. Without that, Norris would be extremely close and probably the favourite to win it all.

I can't understand how people are bashing Norris after the week end Piastri had.