2025 McLaren F1 Team

[BMMR61]

I’d like to review the lap charts first but it looked like, taking out Lando’s slowing in the last two laps, Oscar was pumping quick laps to the flag, indicating he had tyre life in hand. A very mature drive and can we ditch the old notion that he can’t manage tyre life please.

[De Wet]

Off topic a bit, but I see we have qualified 1st & 2nd in Indycar.

[Ben1980]

I’d like to review the lap charts first but it looked like, taking out Lando’s slowing in the last two laps, Oscar was pumping quick laps to the flag, indicating he had tyre life in hand. A very mature drive and can we ditch the old notion that he can’t manage tyre life please.

I dont think tyre deg was much if an issue for many of them out there.

I do think he cooked his tyres earlier than Lando last week aswell, when he pushed in the first stint. Why the team had to remind him he needed the tyres for transition.

Maybe Leclerc with his damage. But they all coasted.

[Tvetovnato]

Very good race execution from the team and drivers. Had this been last year, I think we would have seen the drivers sent into the pits for a second stop just because that's what they had planned. But now they read the race calmly, seeing what others do and just responding. Likely plenty of pace left in hand in the end too.

They are for sure in the best position driver wise in the whole field too. Two young , super quick drivers, who get along really well and are very sporting towards each other. It's great to see and I hope that continues.

[Dazmacca5700]

Excellent post

[bauc]

Very good race execution from the team and drivers. Had this been last year, I think we would have seen the drivers sent into the pits for a second stop just because that's what they had planned. But now they read the race calmly, seeing what others do and just responding. Likely plenty of pace left in hand in the end too.

They are for sure in the best position driver wise in the whole field too. Two young , super quick drivers, who get along really well and are very sporting towards each other. It's great to see and I hope that continues.

Agreed 100%

[BMMR61]

I’d like to review the lap charts first but it looked like, taking out Lando’s slowing in the last two laps, Oscar was pumping quick laps to the flag, indicating he had tyre life in hand. A very mature drive and can we ditch the old notion that he can’t manage tyre life please.

I dont think tyre deg was much if an issue for many of them out there.

I do think he cooked his tyres earlier than Lando last week aswell, when he pushed in the first stint. Why the team had to remind him he needed the tyres for transition.

Maybe Leclerc with his damage. But they all coasted.

Could be right Ben but I think a lot of us are too quick to make conclusions, including the teams with all their data. I think the rain squall at Australia that took both our drivers off covered up true relative pace. That and dirty air for the following driver makes it hard to make clear conclusions. Lewis, majestic yesterday, was soundly beaten by his teammate today showing how volatile this season may be.

Oscar has upped his game and there’s no question mark over his racecraft and tyre management now.

[Szabi1112]

Early to talk about but what are your opinions on Suzuka? I guess it can really fit to our car.

[Mansell89]

Ferrari looking like they will be disqualified from todays race - underweight - potentially from excessive plank wear, which had been rumoured for a while in the Aussie GP weekend where people said they had raised the car to avoid the wear.

If true, they might need to raise their car and thus will have to sacrifice some performance which will not be good at all and certainly not good at somewhere like Suzuka.

That could be useful for the McLaren boys (as well as Merc and Max).

[Macklaren]

Yeah Ferrari problem looks really bad. I guess Merc will be our closest WCC challenger and Max for WDC

[bauc]

Early to talk about but what are your opinions on Suzuka? I guess it can really fit to our car.

If we judge by last year, then yes Suzuka should suit our car, we were P3 and P6 I think.

[FittingMechanics]

Ferrari looking like they will be disqualified from todays race - underweight - potentially from excessive plank wear, which had been rumoured for a while in the Aussie GP weekend where people said they had raised the car to avoid the wear.

If true, they might need to raise their car and thus will have to sacrifice some performance which will not be good at all and certainly not good at somewhere like Suzuka.

That could be useful for the McLaren boys (as well as Merc and Max).

It also explains why Ferrari had good pace in the sprint. They could afford to run the car low because it is much shorter. Then they probably changed their setup for the race but it still wasn't enough on HAM car.

[mwillems]

I’d like to review the lap charts first but it looked like, taking out Lando’s slowing in the last two laps, Oscar was pumping quick laps to the flag, indicating he had tyre life in hand. A very mature drive and can we ditch the old notion that he can’t manage tyre life please.

I dont think tyre deg was much if an issue for many of them out there.

I do think he cooked his tyres earlier than Lando last week aswell, when he pushed in the first stint. Why the team had to remind him he needed the tyres for transition.

Maybe Leclerc with his damage. But they all coasted.

Could be right Ben but I think a lot of us are too quick to make conclusions, including the teams with all their data. I think the rain squall at Australia that took both our drivers off covered up true relative pace. That and dirty air for the following driver makes it hard to make clear conclusions. Lewis, majestic yesterday, was soundly beaten by his teammate today showing how volatile this season may be.

Oscar has upped his game and there’s no question mark over his racecraft and tyre management now.

The question mark was consistency rather than peak. But this was a good performance.

[BMMR61]

As I expected the guys set their fastest laps in the last few laps, plenty of pace in hand even then. The uncertainty about the hard tyre’s durability in general and McLaren’s gentle dominance in particular masked our ability to see the car’s actual competitive edge. Probably the biggest tell was Lando’s overtake of George after he got undercut. The MCL39’s race pace still looks the most emphatic part, the single lap thing being still a bit edgy as the car is a bit more unpredictable in the variables. I’m still confident they will tune this out in the coming races. I think Lando was being honest when he said the car doesn’t suit his style as much as last year. Maybe this will bring Oscar closer to him.

[Emag]

I believe Oscar's car (probably both drivers though, just couldn't be bothered to check all the documents) was one of the cars tested after China too, so it's good to see they're within all legal limits on a weekend where people were hoping to see McLaren fall backwards with their "illegal car".

The mini drs controversy last year has riled up everyone. Practically anything is an excuse to call them cheaters now because of the mini drs.