2025 McLaren F1 Team

[SilviuAgo]

https://www.planetf1.com/news/aston-mar ... 0gmail.com


Our cost cap spending fine it seems...

if I had a dollar for every accusation against McLaren that ultimately never materialized (illegal cooling system, water in tires, flexible wings, all performance based on mini-DRS, budget overrun, disqualification from the championship)...

[CjC]

https://www.planetf1.com/news/aston-mar ... 0gmail.com


Our cost cap spending fine it seems...

if I had a dollar for every accusation against McLaren that ultimately never materialized (illegal cooling system, water in tires, flexible wings, all performance based on mini-DRS, budget overrun, disqualification from the championship)...

Some people just can’t believe a back marker can become back to back world constructors champions in the space of 7 years or so.
The same people think the championship only started 10 years ago.

[SilviuAgo]

https://www.planetf1.com/news/aston-mar ... 0gmail.com


Our cost cap spending fine it seems...

if I had a dollar for every accusation against McLaren that ultimately never materialized (illegal cooling system, water in tires, flexible wings, all performance based on mini-DRS, budget overrun, disqualification from the championship)...

Some people just can’t believe a back marker can become back to back world constructors champions in the space of 7 years or so.
The same people think the championship only started 10 years ago.

so true

A nice side by side MCL39 vs RBR21 in Mexico.

[Darth-Piekus]

Some people just can’t believe a back marker can become back to back world constructors champions in the space of 7 years or so.
The same people think the championship only started 10 years ago.

These people are people who started watching 10 years ago and they have no actual knowledge of F1 other than Drive to Survive or knowledge of the F1 world of the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s and the 00s. All they've seen are Mercedes or Red Bull and have no idea who are the real giants of the sport.

[Macklaren]

Some people just can’t believe a back marker can become back to back world constructors champions in the space of 7 years or so.
The same people think the championship only started 10 years ago.

These people are people who started watching 10 years ago and they have no actual knowledge of F1 other than Drive to Survive or knowledge of the F1 world of the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s and the 00s. All they've seen are Mercedes or Red Bull and have no idea who are the real giants of the sport.

The incredible animosity on social media directed at Lando, Zak and McLaren in general in the past year is staggering to see. All because they dared to start winning

[venkyhere]

1:1 comparison pic b/w McL39 and RB21 (mexico version) in car thread :
https://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewt ... 3#p1307783

[SilviuAgo]

I remembered this morning how Steiner was pushing not even a month ago McLaren to support Oscar for the title. Until now this didn't age well:

https://racingnews365.com/mclaren-urged ... title-push

Indeed with a swapped positions in Singapore (although Steiner "recommendation" came after that race), now Oscar would have been P1 by 5 points, but his form after the summer brake is the one that worries, not the number of points. 1 point is nothing, but he needs to come back to China - Bahrain form if he wants to be champion.

[SilviuAgo]

Drivers and teams standings





And a nice shot from Mexico, 2023 vs 2025. Welcome Lando to the club

[bauc]

Video from the good old days

[WardenOfTheNorth]

Interesting hypothetical. Final race and Max is leading and the only way a McLaren driver wins the WDC is by finishing 2nd.......but they're running 3rd and the OTHER McLaren driver is in 2nd and unable to win the title unless they can win with Max 2nd....

At what point, if at all, does McLaren ask the drivers to swap positions and would the drivers comply?

[SilviuAgo]

Interesting hypothetical. Final race and Max is leading and the only way a McLaren driver wins the WDC is by finishing 2nd.......but they're running 3rd and the OTHER McLaren driver is in 2nd and unable to win the title unless they can win with Max 2nd....

At what point, if at all, does McLaren ask the drivers to swap positions and would the drivers comply?

To keep it short YES and YES Because if there is a NO at any of those question then 2026 will be one of the most toxic years in McLaren history, with 2 garage sides never change a word, and by the end of 2026 one of the drivers will leave McLaren, if not both.

[AR3-GP]

Interesting hypothetical. Final race and Max is leading and the only way a McLaren driver wins the WDC is by finishing 2nd.......but they're running 3rd and the OTHER McLaren driver is in 2nd and unable to win the title unless they can win with Max 2nd....

At what point, if at all, does McLaren ask the drivers to swap positions and would the drivers comply?

I would propose for Verstappen to slow down and bait the 2nd place driver over the line. Then he is immune to the team orders which are described here. I doubt 2nd place guy would give up on chance to jump Verstappen across the line simply to drop back behind his teammate.

The race results are also provisional. RBR could get disqualified for some reason. Then the driver who dropped behind the other has given away his title...

[CjC]

The thought had crossed my mind about the tyre behaviour in Vegas.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mclar ... /10773140/

I recall Lando saying after the race there in ‘24 that he tried something different in the last stint to make it better and according to him it did.

It seems there are a few who have already bagged the 25 points from Vegas this season for Verstappen already as they seem to be so confident but as a McLaren fan I vividly recall how Ferrari last year were the hot favourites for Vegas and supposedly would dominate the race whey would take control of the WCC. It all sounds a bit similar to me this year too

[AR3-GP]

The thought had crossed my mind about the tyre behaviour in Vegas.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mclar ... /10773140/

I recall Lando saying after the race there in ‘24 that he tried something different in the last stint to make it better and according to him it did.

It seems there are a few who have already bagged the 25 points from Vegas this season for Verstappen already as they seem to be so confident but as a McLaren fan I vividly recall how Ferrari last year were the hot favourites for Vegas and supposedly would dominate the race whey would take control of the WCC. It all sounds a bit similar to me this year too

Mclaren doesn't struggle as much with graining this year because tires are better. So I expect they will be competitive like they were in Monza and Baku. Ultimately, straight line speed is not their strength, so it's not really daring to predict they won't be the fastest there. Las Vegas is also bumpy. All of the ingredients are there for Mclaren to be 3rd fastest that weekend (bumpy, emphasis on straight line speed, low tire deg, no tire overheating).

Piastri struggled at all the street circuits so far. Leclerc is a street circuit specialist. The Mclaren drivers can't risk as much as the rest. It can quickly turn into a P4, P7 weekend or a P4 and DNF racing others with less to lose.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

The thought had crossed my mind about the tyre behaviour in Vegas.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mclar ... /10773140/

I recall Lando saying after the race there in ‘24 that he tried something different in the last stint to make it better and according to him it did.

It seems there are a few who have already bagged the 25 points from Vegas this season for Verstappen already as they seem to be so confident but as a McLaren fan I vividly recall how Ferrari last year were the hot favourites for Vegas and supposedly would dominate the race whey would take control of the WCC. It all sounds a bit similar to me this year too

Personally I'm backing George to win again in Vegas and that's good for the McLaren drivers (so long as they don't DNF) because it reduces the points Max can score.