2025 McLaren F1 Team

[CjC]

Confirmation that there will be no more upgrades.
Stella thinks they had the pace to win without a fully optimised race setup.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mcla ... f1s-us-gp/

I’ll listen and read to what the stakeholders say before assuming how hard or not so hard Verstappen pushed in the race.

[SilviuAgo]

So if they moved the marker forward and Lando got a penalty, that would be fine?

It may be silly, but it was not just messing around, it could have had real consequences.

So basically what you are saying is that it was an attempt to commit fraud.

Funny thing is that wasn't the first time RBR was doing this. Only that this time the idiot in charge of this forgot and needed to come back on track, after everyone left. And was caught.
Maybe next time they will stole some number from the pit-boards and instead of LAP 25 Lando or Oscar will see LAP 5. Playing little dirty games, but is nothing new about this "historical" team.



And an article on this topic:
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/red- ... explained/

[Darth-Piekus]

Pity in my opinion that the team doesnt consider another upgrade to help our drivers.

[rbirules]

If they want to win this championship they have to be like Max last year.

Firstly and most importantly. Be there. Oscar isn’t winning anything if he performs like this last weekend.

And secondly, they need to be agressive with Max like he was with Lando in Austin and Mexico. Go for make or break moves basically. He is at a disadvantage if they crash so make him either accept a compromise, or crash out.

If they cant do that, Max will win, because RedBull will not be at a pace disadvantage anymore this season.

This doesn't make any sense, to me at least, and your pronoun choice of "they" is very revealing. It seems you are looking at this as a McLaren fan that is (perhaps) ambivalent as to which of the McLaren drivers wins the WDC (win either way for you). McLaren have won the WCC, the team competition is over. It's now a race to see who wins the WDC and I guarantee you both McLaren drivers desperately want to win what they have been dreaming about for their whole racing lives.

If either McLaren driver takes themselves out along with Max they are handing the WDC to their teammate, or at least giving them a huge leg up in that race. At this point both McLaren drivers have far more to lose than Max does (long shot at the WDC). This isn't like last year where Max was defending against a single (somewhat long shot) competitor in Lando and could risk hurting his result as long as it also hurt Lando.

This is the McLaren team thread. So yes, I refer to they as in the team. The team shouldn’t give a damn who wins the WDC as long as its one of their drivers.

And I don’t think they will just let Max roll with it, because they all lose. Max most of all, because for Max it doesn't matter with who he makes contact. He needs points against both of them so either way he is screwed.

So yeah, two can play that game. If they’re scared of Max, he will eat them alive. Max would be the winner of possibly the most impressive wdc of the sport, and both of them will be known as the ultimate fumble drivers of what was a dominant car for a good part of the season. I personally would like to go out fighting rather than concede and be remembered as a wimp.

Again, I agree from a fan's perspective, or even the team's perspective, there should be ambivalence regarding which driver wins the WDC (ignoring those with theories that McLaren would prefer Lando to win the WDC), but the team is not the one making the decisions about how hard to fight Max, the drivers are. And the drivers very much care whether it is them or their teammate that wins the WDC.

Are you suggesting that the team tells the drivers before a race that "if you get a chance to be in a tussle with Max, please, take one for the team and take him out of the race so this WDC can stop being so stressful, even if it means your hopes of being WDC are gone as well"?

It's weird to think of it as a team at this point since the team competition is over, and the drivers are now their own biggest competition for the prize they covet, the WDC, with Max being a longshot competitor. I can't see either one risking a scrap with Max knowing they could hand the title to their teammate, taking that risk against one another, mathematically, makes a lot more sense even if it opens the door for Max (they still have a buffer over him). I realize this makes no logical sense if you're viewing this from the team's perspective, but at this point I don't think Lando or Oscar is thinking about protecting their teammate from Max's longshot chance at the WDC.

[FittingMechanics]

In fact it is helping Verstappen that both McLaren drivers are still in the race for WDC. This means that both of them cannot risk a DNF as it would give the championship to the other so neither one will race Verstappen as hard as he could race Lando last year. Calculation for this might change if the chances of one start slipping away.

[Big Tea]

So if they moved the marker forward and Lando got a penalty, that would be fine?

It may be silly, but it was not just messing around, it could have had real consequences.

So basically what you are saying is that it was an attempt to commit fraud.

The "offense" had nothing at all to do with the tape, or why the mechanic was on the track, it was because the mechanic was on the track at a time he was not supposed to be. Black and white in the rules that the teams all know.

[fourmula1]

Mercedes were afforded the luxury of not having an exclusive # 1 for a few years because the car was truly dominant. They gave both drivers equal opportunity and all of the best support. Remember they even swapped mechanics/sides of the garage.

RB has lost WCC because they have exclusive #1 driver that the team is built around.

Mclaren is in a tough spot. Had they prioritized one from start of season they would have had WDC wrapped up or nearly. I suspect it is going to come down to the last race. But not until it is clear, and one driver is out of contention, they will be asked to help the other win.

[Jambier]

Piastri is not helping himself also.
Lately he is just losing ground so there are no reasons to help him more than NOR

[Darth-Piekus]

So if they moved the marker forward and Lando got a penalty, that would be fine?

It may be silly, but it was not just messing around, it could have had real consequences.

So basically what you are saying is that it was an attempt to commit fraud.

The "offense" had nothing at all to do with the tape, or why the mechanic was on the track, it was because the mechanic was on the track at a time he was not supposed to be. Black and white in the rules that the teams all know.

I know but shouldn't there have been something in the rules about it? Isn't it technically a sabotage in order to cause disadvantage?

[f1isgood]

Mercedes were afforded the luxury of not having an exclusive # 1 for a few years because the car was truly dominant. They gave both drivers equal opportunity and all of the best support. Remember they even swapped mechanics/sides of the garage.

RB has lost WCC because they have exclusive #1 driver that the team is built around.

Mclaren is in a tough spot. Had they prioritized one from start of season they would have had WDC wrapped up or nearly. I suspect it is going to come down to the last race. But not until it is clear, and one driver is out of contention, they will be asked to help the other win.

Red Bull haven't lost a WCC in a year where they had a clear best car. Every other WCC lost is purely because someone else simply had a better car. In 24 and 25 it was the Orange car that was better.

[Big Tea]

So basically what you are saying is that it was an attempt to commit fraud.

The "offense" had nothing at all to do with the tape, or why the mechanic was on the track, it was because the mechanic was on the track at a time he was not supposed to be. Black and white in the rules that the teams all know.

I know but shouldn't there have been something in the rules about it? Isn't it technically a sabotage in order to cause disadvantage?

I would see it as what in rugby would have been called "shithousing", which is more or less it would be against the rules if there was a rule. The intention obviously to get Lando a penalty for being outside the pitbox, but Lando should be smart enough not to depend just on that tape.
Had they repositioned the tape, probably a different case.

[Mcl_G10]

Just seems its all coming apart for oscar despite being fantastic for so long into the season. Theres still time and hes well in this still as the championship leader but I just see lando and max coming back at oscar so strongly now from now until the end of the season and both driver will gain more points than oscar between now and seasons end. The question is if they can quite make it with 4 races and 2 sprints.
Mexico will be interesting and not sure who exactly it favours but id learn towards a lando win with max being on pole.

Exciting times in F1.

[basti313]

The "What???" by Lec in the end is hilarous

[venkyhere]

So basically what you are saying is that it was an attempt to commit fraud.

The "offense" had nothing at all to do with the tape, or why the mechanic was on the track, it was because the mechanic was on the track at a time he was not supposed to be. Black and white in the rules that the teams all know.

I know but shouldn't there have been something in the rules about it? Isn't it technically a sabotage in order to cause disadvantage?

'sabotage' is a pretty strong word. I will call it skullduggery/sh*t-housery/gamesmanship.

No team are saints. They all cheat/steal if they can get away with it. Would you call McLaren's mini-DRS as cheating ? I wouldn't. There is no rule that says you can't stick a tape to the wall next to the grid spot as reference. There isn't a rule that says you can't remove one either. Teams always find ''grey areas' to operate. If we start associating a moral compass to every action that any team makes, we would be surprised at the number of teams who can be labelled 'guilty'. What about Mclaren's 2007 spygate, under Ron Dennis, or Briatore's crash-gate in Singapore ? They are proper much more serious offences. Or even take 2019 fuel-meter-gate from Ferrari, how to 'label' that ? sabotage ? What about keeping a few photographers under the payroll from 2022 onwards, to take photos of the floor when a crane hoists a crashed car ? what about the particular crane in Monaco which decided to hoist Perez's crashed car to a 10-storey building height, for no apparent reason ?
Such things are part and parcel of the 'gamesmanship' that is part of sport at the highest level.

This is just some childish prank the teams play with each other.