2025 McLaren F1 Team

[MTudor]

Many of the teams have +1000 technical people and advanced technology,but it's a fine balance to know which people are good where.
We had James Key and we thought he was the answer,we had David Sanchez and we thought he was part of the puzzle,but you need the right leader to stear the team in the right direction.

"+1000 technical people and advanced technology" was the comment to show the complexity and scale of the task, not to undermine Stella's success. His team is winning, so he is undoubtedly the best TD at the moment. Just my opinion, but there is no need to create Gods like people do with Newey.

Everyone can have an opinion, I guess.

But I agree, Stella has unlocked things in the team that were previously held back.

But every team has highly skilled people and I dont think Stella can walk into any team and make them champions because it needed to have the right talent to be unlocked.

Zak had already begun making his mark in terms of the culture of Mclaren and Stella can only unlock the talent that the different individuals already possess

It does feel like folks want to apply success to specific names, but i don't see the point in not recognising that the whole team is what gets us to the top level and I'm sure there's a whole ton of key enablers that we don't hear about.

Go Mclaren.

Mclaren FTW!!!
Ps.The team cares much more about WCC then WDC,because WCC brings the money in the team,not WDC.

[Ground Effect]

Many of the teams have +1000 technical people and advanced technology,but it's a fine balance to know which people are good where.
We had James Key and we thought he was the answer,we had David Sanchez and we thought he was part of the puzzle,but you need the right leader to stear the team in the right direction.

"+1000 technical people and advanced technology" was the comment to show the complexity and scale of the task, not to undermine Stella's success. His team is winning, so he is undoubtedly the best TD at the moment. Just my opinion, but there is no need to create Gods like people do with Newey.

I agree running a successful F1 team takes a large group of competent people, it goes much further than just the guy at the top. That said, it's been said by Zak that it was practically the same group of technical staff behind the 2023 resurgence that had been putting the cars together all this while. For example, our aero chief Peter Prod had been back with McLaren for nearly a decade, but it was Stella that created the avenue for his talents and skills to be fully expressed and utilised. Stella credited Prod in 2023 and described him as being "unlocked". The Red Bull team have a great bunch of people, but somehow seem to have lost their way since Adrian "god" Newey stopped working on their cars, how strange... back in when the 2017 rules were implemented, he was busy with outside projects and RB only made gains when he came back on board and guided them. So my point is, as much as it takes an entire team, it would be a mistake to underestimate the importance of a top leader, which Stella without a doubt is.

[maygun]

Many of the teams have +1000 technical people and advanced technology,but it's a fine balance to know which people are good where.
We had James Key and we thought he was the answer,we had David Sanchez and we thought he was part of the puzzle,but you need the right leader to stear the team in the right direction.

"+1000 technical people and advanced technology" was the comment to show the complexity and scale of the task, not to undermine Stella's success. His team is winning, so he is undoubtedly the best TD at the moment. Just my opinion, but there is no need to create Gods like people do with Newey.

I agree running a successful F1 team takes a large group of competent people, it goes much further than just the guy at the top. That said, it's been said by Zak that it was practically the same group of technical staff behind the 2023 resurgence that had been putting the cars together all this while. For example, our aero chief Peter Prod had been back with McLaren for nearly a decade, but it was Stella that created the avenue for his talents and skills to be fully expressed and utilised. Stella credited Prod in 2023 and described him as being "unlocked". The Red Bull team have a great bunch of people, but somehow seem to have lost their way since Adrian "god" Newey stopped working on their cars, how strange... back in when the 2017 rules were implemented, he was busy with outside projects and RB only made gains when he came back on board and guided them. So my point is, as much as it takes an entire team, it would be a mistake to underestimate the importance of a top leader, which Stella without a doubt is.

I think I got a bit misunderstood. I'm not trying to undermine Stella's performance or contributions, and I agree that without his leadership, Mclaren would not be in this position right now. he is the best TD in the paddock at the moment with his last 2 years of performance. I just wanted to point out it is never one man show, maybe I will be proven wrong but I have a feeling that Newey wouldn't be successful at Aston and they will 'blame' to Honda for it

[Henri]

https://x.com/F1BigData/status/1905259336856641709? Oscar stepped up his qualifying

[Emag]

https://x.com/F1BigData/status/1905259336856641709? Oscar stepped up his qualifying

Well, a sample of a whole 2 races + a sprint quali is hardly conclusive. Let's see how this looks like by the midseason point.

[mwillems]

"+1000 technical people and advanced technology" was the comment to show the complexity and scale of the task, not to undermine Stella's success. His team is winning, so he is undoubtedly the best TD at the moment. Just my opinion, but there is no need to create Gods like people do with Newey.

I agree running a successful F1 team takes a large group of competent people, it goes much further than just the guy at the top. That said, it's been said by Zak that it was practically the same group of technical staff behind the 2023 resurgence that had been putting the cars together all this while. For example, our aero chief Peter Prod had been back with McLaren for nearly a decade, but it was Stella that created the avenue for his talents and skills to be fully expressed and utilised. Stella credited Prod in 2023 and described him as being "unlocked". The Red Bull team have a great bunch of people, but somehow seem to have lost their way since Adrian "god" Newey stopped working on their cars, how strange... back in when the 2017 rules were implemented, he was busy with outside projects and RB only made gains when he came back on board and guided them. So my point is, as much as it takes an entire team, it would be a mistake to underestimate the importance of a top leader, which Stella without a doubt is.

I think I got a bit misunderstood. I'm not trying to undermine Stella's performance or contributions, and I agree that without his leadership, Mclaren would not be in this position right now. he is the best TD in the paddock at the moment with his last 2 years of performance. I just wanted to point out it is never one man show, maybe I will be proven wrong but I have a feeling that Newey wouldn't be successful at Aston and they will 'blame' to Honda for it

Indeed. Yes, he's important and he's done an ama,ing job, but he wouldn't be able to do it without the people he has in his team

[mwillems]

https://x.com/F1BigData/status/1905259336856641709? Oscar stepped up his qualifying

Well, a sample of a whole 2 races + a sprint quali is hardly conclusive. Let's see how this looks like by the midseason point.

I don't think it includes the sprint quali

[taperoo2k]

"+1000 technical people and advanced technology" was the comment to show the complexity and scale of the task, not to undermine Stella's success. His team is winning, so he is undoubtedly the best TD at the moment. Just my opinion, but there is no need to create Gods like people do with Newey.

Everyone can have an opinion, I guess.

But I agree, Stella has unlocked things in the team that were previously held back.

But every team has highly skilled people and I dont think Stella can walk into any team and make them champions because it needed to have the right talent to be unlocked.

Zak had already begun making his mark in terms of the culture of Mclaren and Stella can only unlock the talent that the different individuals already possess

It does feel like folks want to apply success to specific names, but i don't see the point in not recognising that the whole team is what gets us to the top level and I'm sure there's a whole ton of key enablers that we don't hear about.

Go Mclaren.

Mclaren FTW!!!
Ps.The team cares much more about WCC then WDC,because WCC brings the money in the team, not WDC.

Main mission for any team is to win the constructors given the prize money, the WDC is the cherry on top of the cake. McLaren could have gone all out with Lando to try and win the WDC last year but then they might have lost the WCC.

Having both titles is a marketting boon.

[BMMR61]

https://x.com/F1BigData/status/1905259336856641709? Oscar stepped up his qualifying

Well, a sample of a whole 2 races + a sprint quali is hardly conclusive. Let's see how this looks like by the midseason point.

Indeed, and I'm a big fan of Oscar. However I was surprised and disappointed by his lack of progress after his incredible win at Azerbaijan. His results in the Americas and even the final Middle East races indicated a regression. Maybe he was getting jaded after so many races and quite a lot of bad luck and strategy errors. This year though he seems to have jumped out of the blocks to the point where some people are foolishly discounting Lando. It's a good thing to have the fastest car (for now) and two top level drivers with no real team orders, classic McLaren from years gone by.

[Emag]

https://x.com/F1BigData/status/1905259336856641709? Oscar stepped up his qualifying

Well, a sample of a whole 2 races + a sprint quali is hardly conclusive. Let's see how this looks like by the midseason point.

Indeed, and I'm a big fan of Oscar. However I was surprised and disappointed by his lack of progress after his incredible win at Azerbaijan. His results in the Americas and even the final Middle East races indicated a regression. Maybe he was getting jaded after so many races and quite a lot of bad luck and strategy errors. This year though he seems to have jumped out of the blocks to the point where some people are foolishly discounting Lando. It's a good thing to have the fastest car (for now) and two top level drivers with no real team orders, classic McLaren from years gone by.

Lando really struggled with the car in China, Oscar looked so much more comfortable the entire weekend. Lando's Q2 lap in qualifying ended up being faster than his Q3 lap. If he had hooked up the Q2 S1 and S2 with the Q3 S3, he would have been on pole, but he couldn't put a lap together.

I expect things to be tight in Suzuka between them again, because Oscar has been really good on fast sections since 2023. Now with a little bit more experience, I expect him to make less errors and put nice laps together more often. Biggest telltale for his improvement will be tracks like Spain or Zandvoort, because he got completely outmatched by Lando on those last year.

[f1isgood]

Well, a sample of a whole 2 races + a sprint quali is hardly conclusive. Let's see how this looks like by the midseason point.

Indeed, and I'm a big fan of Oscar. However I was surprised and disappointed by his lack of progress after his incredible win at Azerbaijan. His results in the Americas and even the final Middle East races indicated a regression. Maybe he was getting jaded after so many races and quite a lot of bad luck and strategy errors. This year though he seems to have jumped out of the blocks to the point where some people are foolishly discounting Lando. It's a good thing to have the fastest car (for now) and two top level drivers with no real team orders, classic McLaren from years gone by.

Lando really struggled with the car in China, Oscar looked so much more comfortable the entire weekend. Lando's Q2 lap in qualifying ended up being faster than his Q3 lap. If he had hooked up the Q2 S1 and S2 with the Q3 S3, he would have been on pole, but he couldn't put a lap together.

I expect things to be tight in Suzuka between them again, because Oscar has been really good on fast sections since 2023. Now with a little bit more experience, I expect him to make less errors and put nice laps together more often. Biggest telltale for his improvement will be tracks like Spain or Zandvoort, because he got completely outmatched by Lando on those last year.

I think this year the car is better on the tires than last year. Piastri's growth as a driver will be hard to gauge in my opinion. If the tires aren't degging much, there's not much difference Lando can make over Oscar assuming Oscar actually hasn't improved much. Race pace is usually far more of a skill differentiator when the car is having much worse tire wear with one driver even while they are close over a hot lap.

[mwillems]

I don't think we'll see the end of deg or stop start circuits this year so he'll be tested plenty I think. The sprint was the first High deg Scenario and for me he did well to keep his tyres alive long enough to get past Max. At Suzuka, deg was better last year due to the surface but still it was a trickier track for Oscar.

Turns 1 to 2 , turn 11 and then 13 and 14 could obviously challenge this car due to the requirement for braking through corners. But I think that the car will still be more settled here so I don't expect to see issues with the rear as that felt surface specific.

The S Curves and Casio triangle will also be interesting to watch.

I guess tracks that don't have a lot of trailbraking and where Oscar obviously struggled last year will offer the best visual measure of his performance, as well as periods where he has to follow a car to get an overtakeije the sprint, where he had a tendency to cook his tyres.

[Ground Effect]

Got this on the autosport forum. Didn't realise these are still being done.

[BMMR61]

I don't think we'll see the end of deg or stop start circuits this year so he'll be tested plenty I think. The sprint was the first High deg Scenario and for me he did well to keep his tyres alive long enough to get past Max. At Suzuka, deg was better last year due to the surface but still it was a trickier track for Oscar.

Turns 1 to 2 , turn 11 and then 13 and 14 could obviously challenge this car due to the requirement for braking through corners. But I think that the car will still be more settled here so I don't expect to see issues with the rear as that felt surface specific.

The S Curves and Casio triangle will also be interesting to watch.

I guess tracks that don't have a lot of trailbraking and where Oscar obviously struggled last year will offer the best visual measure of his performance, as well as periods where he has to follow a car to get an overtakeije the sprint, where he had a tendency to cook his tyres.

We have to go back to Hungary 2023 and Oscar's second race with the MCL60B package that we suddenly realised that Oscar had a lot to learn about tyre management. It became a theme in 2023 and continued to a much lesser degree through 2024. There have been times where Oscar has visibly pulled out of a fight to overtake, cooled his tyres and gone again to good effect. I think there was a bit of that in the Sprint when he backed away from the Lewis/Max battle and saved his tyres then went again as Lewis asserted himself and it worked. There are signs that the MCL39 looks after it's tyres pretty well but is prone to sudden snaps which may or may not be due to thermal spikes of the tyres. So far it looks like last year's good understanding of the car is continuing.

[mwillems]

The snaps, on face value, occurred in two parts and in China not Australia.

The first was turning under braking caused Lando difficulties as the car seems to lock up or understeer.

The second issue with the sliding of the car, in particular the rear, seemed related to the surface, or at least that what the teams said. It seemed to affect everyone and caused everyone to have some peakiness which would likely have made the issues at the front worse for us.

Oscars issues in 2024,to me at least, related to the consistency with which he could extract speed and tyre life. This seemed to relate to slower speed circuits apart from Monaco where he had a tremendous weekend.

We need to see much more of Oscar to understand if he's made that next step, it's a strong start and if he hadn't have overdid his entry to the track in Australia when trying to keep ahead of Max, he'd be leading the championship.

But he's not and these things are part of the journey.