2025 McLaren F1 Team

[organic]

What I'm curious about is how Mclaren knew already on Friday that the soft tire was the one to do the race sim on. Isn't that odd?

They understand the tyres better than most other teams, considering that this is essentially a tyre formula now, and Mexico is always low grip which lends to softer compounds usually

[mwillems]

I said yesterday too, but with hindsight, I still don’t think they should have pit Oscar a second time.

Max would have gone through no doubt, but I don’t think Ollie would have caught and overtaken him for 4th.

I was thinking this during the race. I think there was more scope for a higher finish by staying out, but I was certain he wouldn't have finished lower than he did.

I always think this during races but Oscar just can't make these "tire whisperer" strategies work. This coupled with McLaren being super conservative on strategy means you get these type of calls.

I guess he did alright in the first stint when has was following and attacking.

The track felt like it was very low deg even with the cars sliding. Even, 20 odd laps for them to recover the pit delta deficit AND pass Oscar felt like a tall order.

When the Merc pitted ahead I fully expected Oscar to dive left.

[Ben1980]

I was thinking this during the race. I think there was more scope for a higher finish by staying out, but I was certain he wouldn't have finished lower than he did.

I always think this during races but Oscar just can't make these "tire whisperer" strategies work. This coupled with McLaren being super conservative on strategy means you get these type of calls.

I guess he did alright in the first stint when has was following and attacking.

The track felt like it was very low deg even with the cars sliding. Even, 20 odd laps for them to recover the pit delta deficit AND pass Oscar felt like a tall order.

When the Merc pitted ahead I fully expected Oscar to dive left.

Im not sure they pit if Oscar doesnt pit. And im then not sure of Oscar gets passed George on the mediums. He would get taken by Max easily though If Kimi still stops its questionable if he gets it back though

[mwillems]

I always think this during races but Oscar just can't make these "tire whisperer" strategies work. This coupled with McLaren being super conservative on strategy means you get these type of calls.

I guess he did alright in the first stint when has was following and attacking.

The track felt like it was very low deg even with the cars sliding. Even, 20 odd laps for them to recover the pit delta deficit AND pass Oscar felt like a tall order.

When the Merc pitted ahead I fully expected Oscar to dive left.

Im not sure they pit if Oscar doesnt pit. And im then not sure of Oscar gets passed George on the mediums. He would get taken by Max easily though If Kimi still stops its questionable if he gets it back though

Kimi had pitted, but I'm not sure if George would have, but he'd still have got past George the same I think, possibly even quicker with just one car to worry about.

Felt like a missed opportunity to me.

[Ben1980]

I guess he did alright in the first stint when has was following and attacking.

The track felt like it was very low deg even with the cars sliding. Even, 20 odd laps for them to recover the pit delta deficit AND pass Oscar felt like a tall order.

When the Merc pitted ahead I fully expected Oscar to dive left.

Im not sure they pit if Oscar doesnt pit. And im then not sure of Oscar gets passed George on the mediums. He would get taken by Max easily though If Kimi still stops its questionable if he gets it back though

Kimi had pitted, but I'm not sure if George would have, but he'd still have got past George the same I think, possibly even quicker with just one car to worry about.

Felt like a missed opportunity to me.

Though Mclaren made it pretty obvious they were stopping Oscar that they had to pit Kimi.

Maybe Oscar would have got George on the mediums but im not sure.

Though i think stopping or not stopping 5th was likely best finish.

[mwillems]

Yes, but we still had the opportunity to see Kimi pit and stay out.

[diffuser]

What I'm curious about is how Mclaren knew already on Friday that the soft tire was the one to do the race sim on. Isn't that odd?

They understand the tyres better than most other teams, considering that this is essentially a tyre formula now, and Mexico is always low grip which lends to softer compounds usually

Think most teams had the tires down by then. It isn't exactly brain surgery. It's even easier for McLaren since they manage tire wear better than most.

[diffuser]

Im not sure they pit if Oscar doesnt pit. And im then not sure of Oscar gets passed George on the mediums. He would get taken by Max easily though If Kimi still stops its questionable if he gets it back though

Kimi had pitted, but I'm not sure if George would have, but he'd still have got past George the same I think, possibly even quicker with just one car to worry about.

Felt like a missed opportunity to me.

Though Mclaren made it pretty obvious they were stopping Oscar that they had to pit Kimi.

Maybe Oscar would have got George on the mediums but im not sure.

Though i think stopping or not stopping 5th was likely best finish.

Think there was a really good chance, considering how much Russell tortured his Mediums, of passing a non DRS aided Russell. The REAL question is, do you want Max in front of you or Russell? I think you'd rather give the extra points to Russell and that's why I think it was a strategy error. 4 races left and Max is still 36 points behind, the odds are low but not impossible.

[mwillems]

Indeed. Whilst I think Max would have got past, there would have at least been a battle and the opportunity to minimise the positions Max could have gained by the end.

[emp]

I think it wasn't a strategy error to pit Piastri again, but it was forced by the not so clever strategy of Mercedes who just gifted Max a podium. If they would have stayed on mediums, i think Max couldn't have passed that drs train that was there and he would've been stuck in 7th.

[AR3-GP]

I think it wasn't a strategy error to pit Piastri again, but it was forced by the not so clever strategy of Mercedes who just gifted Max a podium. If they would have stayed on mediums, i think Max couldn't have passed that drs train that was there and he would've been stuck in 7th.

Verstappen was lapping 1 second a lap faster than Russell. He would have had so much traction advantage exiting the last corner that the overtake would have been done before the pit exit.

[mwillems]

Oscar, when finally in clean air, or cleaner air, was one of the fastest on track. I think he had a lot more pace once past George, and would have had the benefit of much more clean air to run in once past George.

[organic]

Oscar, when finally in clean air, or cleaner air, was one of the fastest on track. I think he had a lot more pace once past George, and would have had the benefit of much more clean air to run in once past George.

He was on a 2-stop strategy which was the same as many of those around him but not the same as the top 3 fastest guys so it's hard to say how quick he really was relative to them. Marginal 2 stop strategy when the mediums sucked and the soft was really good made your pace look a lot better

[diffuser]

It was kind of strange for Merc to Battle Piastri so hard and not Battle Max at all considering how friendly Max and Russell are..... For whatever reason.... Russell decided "Piastri" was a hill he wanted to die on. I also got the impression that his engineer was trying to nudge him to let Piastri through.

The other thing was, had Piastri stayed out when Ant pitted, he would have been in clean air, Russell had pulled ahead a bit. It was NOT obvious that Ant was gonna have a pit stop issue, it was just luck that it wasn't Piastri that had a pit stop delay or that they both had good stops and Piastri just came out behind Ant again.


Anyways, hind sight is 20/20!

[emp]

I think it wasn't a strategy error to pit Piastri again, but it was forced by the not so clever strategy of Mercedes who just gifted Max a podium. If they would have stayed on mediums, i think Max couldn't have passed that drs train that was there and he would've been stuck in 7th.

Verstappen was lapping 1 second a lap faster than Russell. He would have had so much traction advantage exiting the last corner that the overtake would have been done before the pit exit.

It was a 3 car drs train: Antonelli, Russell and Piastri. The mercs switched and Piastri still couldn't pass on the track because the drs train. Also, in the beggining of the race we saw how good Max was on those mediums and almost no one on the softs behind came close to threaten him. Of course it's possible that he would've breezed past, but considering the dirty air you get when following, the sliding, the temperatures, only 2 places to overtake, 2 Mercedes that can play as a team and the drs train in front...I still think he would've been stuck a long time, even if he would've got Piastri.