2025 McLaren F1 Team

[CjC]

Despite not being the ‘dominant’ car this weekend, dispute being in traffic the whole race Lando still managed to be only 0.55 on average off Verstappen in race pace.

In my opinion the car was more than capable it just wasn’t ever really on the correct tyres. Look at Russel who did the hard/ medium combo, he was only 0.15 off the ‘crushing’ Verstappen

[venkyhere]

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

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.

Guys, I'm not trying to diss Norris, or fight your opinion. Just throwing up the Q - 'is that all he could have done?', what about a check-dive into an inconspicuous corner to scare Tsunoda ? What about disturbing the rhythm of the guy ahead ? Tsunoda drove a lot of the race without DRS, it was only in 2nd stint that he wedged in between Lawson and Norris. Why wasn't Norris able to undercut Tsunoda, even if it meant draining his battery when he had clean air ? Things like this.

[venkyhere]

Despite not being the ‘dominant’ car this weekend, dispute being in traffic the whole race Lando still managed to be only 0.55 on average off Verstappen in race pace.

In my opinion the car was more than capable it just wasn’t ever really on the correct tyres. Look at Russel who did the hard/ medium combo, he was only 0.15 off the ‘crushing’ Verstappen

Remember, Verstappen never got to use DRS (which is worth about 2 tenths atleast) throughout the race (perhaps towards the end when lapping the Alpines, but Im not sure it was on the Caspian straight) while others in that list did. Verstappen was driving like how Norris was driving in Singapore last year - just cruising and to a target time.

[Trocola]

Currently, I am not 100% sure that McLaren will win the WDC.

The team is going in a down spiral quite obvious.

They event went from getting the fastest pit stop in history to slower-than-average pit stops. In Baku they only had to do one pit-stop and, not surprising, it was a mess

[Sergej]

Despite not being the ‘dominant’ car this weekend, dispute being in traffic the whole race Lando still managed to be only 0.55 on average off Verstappen in race pace.

In my opinion the car was more than capable it just wasn’t ever really on the correct tyres. Look at Russel who did the hard/ medium combo, he was only 0.15 off the ‘crushing’ Verstappen

Remember, Verstappen never got to use DRS (which is worth about 2 tenths atleast) throughout the race (perhaps towards the end when lapping the Alpines, but Im not sure it was on the Caspian straight) while others in that list did. Verstappen was driving like how Norris was driving in Singapore last year - just cruising and to a target time.

except he didn't risk putting the car in the wall twice

[basti313]

Guys, I'm not trying to diss Norris, or fight your opinion. Just throwing up the Q - 'is that all he could have done?'

Well, this was the crucial point. Both simply bottled the Q. Being 6 tenth away from a Willi, a Merc and a RB is simply not enough. Being on the level of a rookie in a RB...that is simply not the car and the strategy, Lando was out at the perfect time.

Last week I criticized the boredom festival. But this was a bit like Brawn...hope this gets better.

I feel gutted for Piastri. Maybe Webber will tell him a bit about South Korea 2010 when he threw away his WDC...best way to become a Nr.2 driver instead of his current 1B status.

[CjC]

Despite not being the ‘dominant’ car this weekend, dispute being in traffic the whole race Lando still managed to be only 0.55 on average off Verstappen in race pace.

In my opinion the car was more than capable it just wasn’t ever really on the correct tyres. Look at Russel who did the hard/ medium combo, he was only 0.15 off the ‘crushing’ Verstappen

Remember, Verstappen never got to use DRS (which is worth about 2 tenths atleast) throughout the race (perhaps towards the end when lapping the Alpines, but Im not sure it was on the Caspian straight) while others in that list did. Verstappen was driving like how Norris was driving in Singapore last year - just cruising and to a target time.

I know, I know. I never suggested that was Verstappens ultimate race pace but as we know he wasn’t ever challenged so tyre wear wasn’t a problem for him. Lando spent the entire race in dirty air- you can imagine his medium tyres were screwed by the time he pitted

[CjC]

Guys, I'm not trying to diss Norris, or fight your opinion. Just throwing up the Q - 'is that all he could have done?'

Well, this was the crucial point. Both simply bottled the Q. Being 6 tenth away from a Willi, a Merc and a RB is simply not enough. Being on the level of a rookie in a RB...that is simply not the car and the strategy, Lando was out at the perfect time.

Juan Pablo Montoya said the pole time was set on the driest track conditions.
The polar opposite to when Lando set his laptime.

Montoya is a pitlane pundit now so he was there getting wet by the rain.

[CjC]

Currently, I am not 100% sure that McLaren will win the WDC.

The team is going in a down spiral quite obvious.

They event went from getting the fastest pit stop in history to slower-than-average pit stops. In Baku they only had to do one pit-stop and, not surprising, it was a mess

Stella says they need new hardware to solve the pitstop issues:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/stell ... /10761465/

[venkyhere]

Currently, I am not 100% sure that McLaren will win the WDC.

The team is going in a down spiral quite obvious.

They event went from getting the fastest pit stop in history to slower-than-average pit stops. In Baku they only had to do one pit-stop and, not surprising, it was a mess

Stella says they need new hardware to solve the pitstop issues:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/stell ... /10761465/

'hardware' ? What the hell is going on ?
Wasn't this the team that used to pull off 1.90, 1.98 pitstops last year ?
Completely flummoxed, what kind of news is coming out ?

[CjC]

1.91 in Monza- the fastest of this season so far too.
Stella mentioned making changes to next years car too so they must have made changes to this years hub/ nut assembly

[basti313]

Guys, I'm not trying to diss Norris, or fight your opinion. Just throwing up the Q - 'is that all he could have done?'

Well, this was the crucial point. Both simply bottled the Q. Being 6 tenth away from a Willi, a Merc and a RB is simply not enough. Being on the level of a rookie in a RB...that is simply not the car and the strategy, Lando was out at the perfect time.

Juan Pablo Montoya said the pole time was set on the driest track conditions.
The polar opposite to when Lando set his laptime.

Montoya is a pitlane pundit now so he was there getting wet by the rain.

You did not watch Q? Everyone except for Lawson did his run for the place in the last attempt (Sainz only improved as far as I remember, but did not advance). Same conditions for everyone.

'hardware' ? What the hell is going on ?
Wasn't this the team that used to pull off 1.90, 1.98 pitstops last year ?
Completely flummoxed, what kind of news is coming out ?

The wheel nut and gun design can be improved/adjusted for faster pit stops or more safety. In both bad stops for Norris the wheel gun did non engage till the end, so the gun did not report green. They needed to retighten. If they make the engagement longer, that costs time.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

Was it this season or last that the team talked about the car being particularly sensitive to the wind?

[SilviuAgo]

Currently, I am not 100% sure that McLaren will win the WDC.

The team is going in a down spiral quite obvious.

They event went from getting the fastest pit stop in history to slower-than-average pit stops. In Baku they only had to do one pit-stop and, not surprising, it was a mess

As a funny thing, the condition to win the WDC is to drop gemini logo from MCL39
We had replaced OKX or Chrome from our cars with Gemini in 3 races: in Canada and in Baku. And we all know how this races ended. And are the only to races where McLaren wasn't on podium. Plus in Monza, also a big controversy.
So let's keep it as is with Chrome, OKX or Mastercard till Abu Dhabi and will be just fine

On positive side:

[pantherxxx]

Mclaren's pace was just missing in Baku. Even Tsunoda was pretty much equal to Norris. Was this track specific? Or simply other teams caught up with Mclaren?