2025 McLaren F1 Team

[mwillems]

The qualifying head to head was 20-4 last year.

But the actual average gap was tiny, there wasn't much time to be found to significantly impact the head to head numbers.

What this means is Lando had an edge that was clear enough for basically every race weekend. And when drivers are close in pace, whoever qualified ahead typically wins quite comfortably and Piastri was pretty weak this last phase of the season last year as he fell off quite a bit. Let's see if that happens.

Yeah he did fall off at the end of last year, and it shows me that one of the main differences in Q between this and last year was consistency on the Saturday. Oscar has largely continued, but Lando has struggled.

[f1isgood]

But the actual average gap was tiny, there wasn't much time to be found to significantly impact the head to head numbers.

What this means is Lando had an edge that was clear enough for basically every race weekend. And when drivers are close in pace, whoever qualified ahead typically wins quite comfortably and Piastri was pretty weak this last phase of the season last year as he fell off quite a bit. Let's see if that happens.

Yeah he did fall off at the end of last year, and it shows me that one of the main differences in Q between this and last year was consistency on the Saturday. Oscar has largely continued, but Lando has struggled.

Norris is high variance. His peaks are obviously better than Oscar's in my view. Oscar is generally good but I don't think I have personally been impressed significantly by him in a single weekend. He even has a grand slam so it's quite ridiculous to be saying that but anyways here I am saying it. I think Lando always showed more potential but yeah he is just not doing the job the last couple of years especially when it mattered quite a bit. I also think Lando is still faster than Oscar most of the time but the gaps are small enough to basically not matter.

[ScottR267]

Another new sponsor in Groq starting from Singapore. Also an extension to the Jack Daniels sponsorship

[mwillems]

What this means is Lando had an edge that was clear enough for basically every race weekend. And when drivers are close in pace, whoever qualified ahead typically wins quite comfortably and Piastri was pretty weak this last phase of the season last year as he fell off quite a bit. Let's see if that happens.

Yeah he did fall off at the end of last year, and it shows me that one of the main differences in Q between this and last year was consistency on the Saturday. Oscar has largely continued, but Lando has struggled.

Norris is high variance. His peaks are obviously better than Oscar's in my view. Oscar is generally good but I don't think I have personally been impressed significantly by him in a single weekend. He even has a grand slam so it's quite ridiculous to be saying that but anyways here I am saying it. I think Lando always showed more potential but yeah he is just not doing the job the last couple of years especially when it mattered quite a bit. I also think Lando is still faster than Oscar most of the time but the gaps are small enough to basically not matter.

Norris Variance last year was in race, and was great in Q, the year before he was great in the race but making up for inconsistent Q. He's even inconsistent about where he's inconsistent

In reality this will be in part down to the traits of the car and where it is troublesome to him. First half of this year and two years ago that car was a bit ragged on the edge and Lando struggled both times.

In the races last year it wasn't really the car but seemed to be with his ability to convert his Saturday to a good result on Sunday and that lack of a cool head that we've all spoken about.

[Darth-Piekus]

Good afternoon. I took a long break to cool off, put things in order and come back with a better perspective.

First of all I wanted to say good job to the team so far but now we are at the last straight. Oscar is doing a great job with only one mistake so far and he is first on merit. Norris is doing also ok but he could have done more but that's ok as he is still second and close. Both drivers now have to sit down and work for the final 7 races as the game is still not over and the team if possible to provide an upgrade to help them.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

Good afternoon. I took a long break to cool off, put things in order and come back with a better perspective.

First of all I wanted to say good job to the team so far but now we are at the last straight. Oscar is doing a great job with only one mistake so far and he is first on merit. Norris is doing also ok but he could have done more but that's ok as he is still second and close. Both drivers now have to sit down and work for the final 7 races as the game is still not over and the team if possible to provide an upgrade to help them.

Oscar could have done more too.

I think you're being unfair on Lando. Both drivers are doing an excellent job considering it's the first season for either where they're in with a serious shot of the title.

[mwillems]

Good afternoon. I took a long break to cool off, put things in order and come back with a better perspective.

First of all I wanted to say good job to the team so far but now we are at the last straight. Oscar is doing a great job with only one mistake so far and he is first on merit. Norris is doing also ok but he could have done more but that's ok as he is still second and close. Both drivers now have to sit down and work for the final 7 races as the game is still not over and the team if possible to provide an upgrade to help them.

Oscar could have done more too.

I think you're being unfair on Lando. Both drivers are doing an excellent job considering it's the first season for either where they're in with a serious shot of the title.

Lando had last season to acclimatise to the pressure at the front and to have a car that could have run Max close.

That said, Oscar has made more than 1 mistake this year, for instance the Silverstone penalty, multiple issues in Baku and beaching himself in Australia.

[Darth-Piekus]

It's still okay. They are doing well so far and they are definitely causing jealousy on the other team fans. However none of them has gotten that WDC yet and they both have to keep pushing for getting more 1-2 in the following races starting from Singapore. The car should on paper have the upper hand there as also in Mexico and Brazil and these races should be enough to finish the WDC title.

However there is another side of me who is worried that Max Verstappen might make a full comeback as the car of Red Bull might have taken the upper hand after all these upgrades but I won't know for sure unless I see how Singapore goes.

[hollus]

If you guys want to talk ONLY about drivers, let me reming you that you might be on the wrong forum, drowning out the, you know, TECH?

[Darth-Piekus]

There's nothing wrong to talk about Mclaren drivers in a General Mclaren thread but why not. I'll change the subject.

What does Mclaren have on the table for a last minute upgrade for the car in order to make our driver's lives easier for the last 6 races? Anyone has any info?

[Waz]

Any upgrades now would be a surprise. Full focus should be on next year. The championships are very much secure, and too much is being read into 2 high speed circuits that favored Red Bull, with either very few corners or only slow corners.

[CjC]

I think the only think we might see is something specific for Vegas but that’s just my assumption and in reality if they develop a rear wing for there and done win the race and score a double podium then that’s a massive waste of resource.

As I said last week. There is no doubt Red Bull has poured a lot of resources into developing the RB21 after the summer break.

[Darth-Piekus]

There's a part of me that doesnt feel very confident yet. I dont know what Red Bull did but there's a chance their form is genuine everywhere.

[CjC]

Yea but having a points advantage gives the boys a chance to give Verstappen a tour around the first few rows of the grandstand like he didn’t to Hamilton back in ‘21

[Darth-Piekus]

Yea but having a points advantage gives the boys a chance to give Verstappen a tour around the first few rows of the grandstand like he didn’t to Hamilton back in ‘21

You'll have to excuse me for my rusty english but what does that mean? Is it positive or negative?