2025 McLaren F1 Team

[Darth-Piekus]

I believe the team did well and had their chances for a pole. However points are given tomorrow and if we still have the better tyre wear we will be passing both Russell and Max since our mediums are newer. Good lap from Oscar and Lando keeps making mistakes. At this point I have a feeling that Piastri surpassed him.

[CjC]

Lando thinks Verstappen has the best race pace

[Emag]

Lando thinks Verstappen has the best race pace

That's because in FP2, he did, discounting outliers. I know people put Russell as the fastest car after FP2, but removing traffic affected laps, Max was flying.

McLaren's battle should be with Russell, I think RedBull has this in the bag actually. They have been the ultimate practice sandbaggers the entire season, yet people are still surprised to see Max on the fight for pole every race somehow.

I probably wont be able to see the race tomorrow, which is a shame because it looks like it should be a good one. Not surprised at all with Lando's performance in Q3. He barely puts a lap together when he is comfortable, let alone on a weekend where he has been going off every other lap since FP1. At least he made it out of Q1.

Gotta hurt to have his teammate fastest in S3 of all places. That's where Oscar had a moment in FP3 yet it did nothing to his confidence. Speaking of which, strategy could play a big role tomorrow and Oscar can still win it, but on pace alone, Max is really strong and it will be difficult to overtake him on-track. Mercedes is a bit of a question mark, but I expect them to have the worst deg, so if an overtake doesn't happen at the start, George will probably be vulnerable later on the stint.

[venkyhere]

Good lap from Oscar and Lando keeps making mistakes.

Perhaps the first time both of us agree on something (we should each have a beer in light of this ).

Same old story - Piastri looked 'lost' in all practice sessions but put everything together when it mattered, Norris looked one of the best in practice, yet stumbled when it came to crunch time.

The only 'ace' of Mclaren that can come to the party on this track is 'traction'. This track doesn't have long corners, so their 'other' typical advantages (sharp front end, stable rear, ability to run as low as possible) are equalized with others on this particular track where the kerbs ask for higher static ride height. Make no mistake, the MCL39 was still a front row car for this track ; just that today showed up their drivers for lacking that 'final 0.5%' when it comes to putting together a near perfect lap in Q3. Guys like Verstappen and Russel thrive on coming alive for that white-knuckled lap in Q3. LeClerc too could have delivered a stunner Q3 lap (purple S1) but according to him, was 'disturbed' by dirty air from Hadjar cooling down ahead (not sure whether it's true, could well be driver error).

That said, the fresh M tyres (which others around them dont have) could be the trump card, McLaren tyre deg is vastly superior to the effect of them being the only team who can realistically plan a 1-stop race. I will not count out Piastri from winning. Russel is likely to eat his tyres midway through the race tomorrow, even though they have gone for higher DF rear wing.

[bauc]

Disappointed from today, especially from NOR, if we can get both drivers on the podium tomorrow, I will consider it a success.

[Mostlyeels]

Disappointed from today, especially from NOR, if we can get both drivers on the podium tomorrow, I will consider it a success.

I think we'd all consider it a success. Shame to see Lando has such trouble putting the car on the limit. Pretty impressed to see Oscar recover and push forward, though George's lap was probably unbeatable.

[mwillems]

Wow, nearly half a second down as Oscar approached the hairpin. His exit from the hairpin and through the final chicane was fantastic and gained a lot of time back.
Was he saving some of the softs for later in the lap? Possibly, but either way it looks like a big ask to win tomorrow, but the car is more competitive in the race, so don't rule anything out.

Speeds look fine on the straights. But given that we are normally a bit slower, this does feel like we've sacrificed some speed in the corners to increase our efficiency.

Oscar was doing his usual and being more cautious on entry (Too cautious?) and to prioritise his exits, but until S3, he didn't seem to get any good exits, he just carried the loss from releasing power and braking earlier.

[Sergej]

I am quite shocked at how Lando is constantly under delivering in Q3, I understand the car may be not his best like but this is becoming embarrassing, plus was not here a suspension update supposed to fit better his style ?

[BMMR61]

Other than Lando saying it, I'm struggling to find anyone say Max is red hot favourite. I believe that saving a brand new set of mediums may be decisive in the first stint - they are so close in ultimate pace to the (ultra)softs that their greater ability to deal with thermal deg could see Oscar come into contention from around lap 20. What do I know anyway?

[Darth-Piekus]

Venkyhere I think its time to accept that Oscar is the future and doesnt lack anything compared to the drivers you mentioned.

[mwillems]

When the car last had peakiness, in 2023, Lando had the same issues in Q. Last year the car gave him the confidence on a Saturday. Ultimately I think the car doesnt make life easy, but there is evidence that when he needs to put the car on a knife edge, or make meaningful knife edge decisions, that he struggles to find the right limits and can take more than is available to him.

[CjC]

Wow, nearly half a second down as Oscar approached the hairpin. His exit from the hairpin and through the final chicane was fantastic and gained a lot of time back.
Was he saving some of the softs for later in the lap? Possibly, but either way it looks like a big ask to win tomorrow, but the car is more competitive in the race, so don't rule anything out.

Speeds look fine on the straights. But given that we are normally a bit slower, this does feel like we've sacrificed some speed in the corners to increase our efficiency.

Oscar was doing his usual and being more cautious on entry (Too cautious?) and to prioritise his exits, but until S3, he didn't seem to get any good exits, he just carried the loss from releasing power and braking earlier.

Lando hit the wall exit of turn 7 akin to what Stroll did in practise. No tyre saving just more mistakes.

[mwillems]

Wow, nearly half a second down as Oscar approached the hairpin. His exit from the hairpin and through the final chicane was fantastic and gained a lot of time back.
Was he saving some of the softs for later in the lap? Possibly, but either way it looks like a big ask to win tomorrow, but the car is more competitive in the race, so don't rule anything out.

Speeds look fine on the straights. But given that we are normally a bit slower, this does feel like we've sacrificed some speed in the corners to increase our efficiency.

Oscar was doing his usual and being more cautious on entry (Too cautious?) and to prioritise his exits, but until S3, he didn't seem to get any good exits, he just carried the loss from releasing power and braking earlier.

Lando hit the wall exit of turn 7 akin to what Stroll did in practise. No tyre saving just more mistakes.

Im talking about Oscar. His S3 was great.

I haven't looked at Landos lap.

[CjC]

Wow, nearly half a second down as Oscar approached the hairpin. His exit from the hairpin and through the final chicane was fantastic and gained a lot of time back.
Was he saving some of the softs for later in the lap? Possibly, but either way it looks like a big ask to win tomorrow, but the car is more competitive in the race, so don't rule anything out.

Speeds look fine on the straights. But given that we are normally a bit slower, this does feel like we've sacrificed some speed in the corners to increase our efficiency.

Oscar was doing his usual and being more cautious on entry (Too cautious?) and to prioritise his exits, but until S3, he didn't seem to get any good exits, he just carried the loss from releasing power and braking earlier.

Lando hit the wall exit of turn 7 akin to what Stroll did in practise. No tyre saving just more mistakes.

Im talking about Oscar. His S3 was great.

I haven't looked at Landos lap.

Yes sorry, I set off reading your post in the wrong context.
Only look at Landos lap if you are a fan of horror stories

[CjC]

I am quite shocked at how Lando is constantly under delivering in Q3, I understand the car may be not his best like but this is becoming embarrassing, plus was not here a suspension update supposed to fit better his style ?

There was and he’s using the new suspension, he reckons he needs to use it at more tracks to get a better read on it. He mentioned that this track hasn’t gripped up like the other tracks tend to do to suit the Mclaren so it’s just a fundamental lack of grip hindering the balance for him more than the car it’s self