2025 McLaren F1 Team

[cliffgamerz]

Is it just me, or does the majority of the team always seem unhappy when Piastri does better?

It’s very much like they always want Norris to win.

They've got the data, I think they know Lando is the better driver.

Lies oscar is much better this year

Oscar is just consistent this year and Lando on the other hand is not but he is fast, either he is feeling the pressure of challenge or championship and making mistakes or it's just Oscar has improved a lot this year both in Qualy and Race which is pressuring Lando to improve to beat him. Its nice to see both drivers fighting it out at top rather than just one driver like some teams who don't get equal car or number one status, happy that McLaren are treating them fair. To beat Max they both need to work together and they know that well rather than just focusing on beat each other. Let the best driver win the season.

[mwillems]

simply stunning, this car did not get any significant upgrade since Australia (apart of diffuser tweak, if my memory served me well). But it is still 0.3s faster in qualifying (by race 9) than RedBull (and the rest) who brought multiple upgrade packages.
0

Test items. No meaningful upgrades so far measures winglets around rear brake ducts and rear/beam wings.

They've been bringing upgrades just by and large not ones they need to declare.

[Henri]

They've got the data, I think they know Lando is the better driver.

Lies oscar is much better this year

Oscar is just consistent this year and Lando on the other hand is not but he is fast, either he is feeling the pressure of challenge or championship and making mistakes or it's just Oscar has improved a lot this year both in Qualy and Race which is pressuring Lando to improve to beat him. Its nice to see both drivers fighting it out at top rather than just one driver like some teams who don't get equal car or number one status, happy that McLaren are treating them fair. To beat Max they both need to work together and they know that well rather than just focusing on beat each other. Let the best driver win the season.

Yeah oscar made a big jump

[mwillems]

They've got the data, I think they know Lando is the better driver.

Lies oscar is much better this year

Oscar is just consistent this year and Lando on the other hand is not but he is fast, either he is feeling the pressure of challenge or championship and making mistakes or it's just Oscar has improved a lot this year both in Qualy and Race which is pressuring Lando to improve to beat him. Its nice to see both drivers fighting it out at top rather than just one driver like some teams who don't get equal car or number one status, happy that McLaren are treating them fair. To beat Max they both need to work together and they know that well rather than just focusing on beat each other. Let the best driver win the season.

It feels like Lando is pushing the car too much because Oscar has found the small difference that existed between them in Q last year.

So I expect that by and large Oscar is getting the most out of the car in Q, although you can see that there's is still room for a little improvement.

In the race it's my opinion that Lando is superior. I suspect that today might be Lando's race.

[mwillems]

Does anyone know whether copium factories are shut down or what is happening today?

All day yesterday I was reading that McLaren used higher engine modes, that they pushed harder, that they are understeering where they used to be on rails, that their superior balance is gone.

And now? Time to accept reality.

McLaren may not win tomorrow if it goes that way but the facts are the development team is superior to other teams and the car is great, whatever TD they force into action. Second flexi wing TD and McLaren still on top!

There were some odd attempts to frame the front-end understeer as a new phenomenon, almost implying that we're being disproportionately affected due to the level of flex we’ve been running.

The current silence is more likely just a temporary effect from the track temperatures. Still, I have no doubt that the moment a driver struggles in Q3 with a tricky car, it’ll quickly be blamed on the TD. What seems hard for some to grasp is that a car can have exceptional front grip—right up until the moment it doesn't. Beyond a certain threshold, you lose the feedback, and then suddenly the grip vanishes in a way that catches the driver off guard.

[mwillems]

Barcelona was supposed to suit Red Bull more.

I think track temperature is a more powerful driver than track layout, qualifying here was run from 48 down to 43 degrees.

Per Stella, it was just the high speeds that the RB would enjoy.

Looking at the telemetry, Max was slower everywhere apart from the penultimate turn where either Piastris tyres had gone or he made a mistake. But he looked to have gone a bit deep and struggled on the exit.

Oscar confirming he leant on the tyres a little too much and didnt put enough thought into metering the tyres over the lap, explaining the only place that Max gained time on Oscar.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/oscar-pia ... ifying-lap

[avantman]

PIASTRI v NORRIS | 2025 Barcelona Qualifying

[Lazy]

Lies oscar is much better this year

Oscar is just consistent this year and Lando on the other hand is not but he is fast, either he is feeling the pressure of challenge or championship and making mistakes or it's just Oscar has improved a lot this year both in Qualy and Race which is pressuring Lando to improve to beat him. Its nice to see both drivers fighting it out at top rather than just one driver like some teams who don't get equal car or number one status, happy that McLaren are treating them fair. To beat Max they both need to work together and they know that well rather than just focusing on beat each other. Let the best driver win the season.

Yeah oscar made a big jump

Tbh think it's more to do with Lando going backwards due to car characteristics at the sharp end of Q.

[BMMR61]

Lies oscar is much better this year

Oscar is just consistent this year and Lando on the other hand is not but he is fast, either he is feeling the pressure of challenge or championship and making mistakes or it's just Oscar has improved a lot this year both in Qualy and Race which is pressuring Lando to improve to beat him. Its nice to see both drivers fighting it out at top rather than just one driver like some teams who don't get equal car or number one status, happy that McLaren are treating them fair. To beat Max they both need to work together and they know that well rather than just focusing on beat each other. Let the best driver win the season.

Yeah oscar made a big jump

There used to be a popular theory that in F1 year 2 was often the driver's difficult one (called the bogey year). It could be seen that the progress that Oscar made last year was not in proportion to the huge amount of work he put into correcting his main weaknesses, namely tyre management. His results improved as the McLaren turned into a regular front runner but relative to Lando he didn't really close the gap greatly. Now in year 3 and with the clearly discernible potential for a WDC Oscar has turned the page as he corrected his second main weakness - his frequent inability to nail Q3 laps rather than be 0.1 or so adrift. The steely, quiet determination, patience and calm have always been there, he's just extracting the last 1% on a regular basis. There will still be plenty of occasions where Lando will have the edge in sheer pace and especially race pace. Tomorrow may well be one of those in the tyre destroying heat and long corners of Barcelona.

[Henri]

Oscar is just consistent this year and Lando on the other hand is not but he is fast, either he is feeling the pressure of challenge or championship and making mistakes or it's just Oscar has improved a lot this year both in Qualy and Race which is pressuring Lando to improve to beat him. Its nice to see both drivers fighting it out at top rather than just one driver like some teams who don't get equal car or number one status, happy that McLaren are treating them fair. To beat Max they both need to work together and they know that well rather than just focusing on beat each other. Let the best driver win the season.

Yeah oscar made a big jump

There used to be a popular theory that in F1 year 2 was often the driver's difficult one (called the bogey year). It could be seen that the progress that Oscar made last year was not in proportion to the huge amount of work he put into correcting his main weaknesses, namely tyre management. His results improved as the McLaren turned into a regular front runner but relative to Lando he didn't really close the gap greatly. Now in year 3 and with the clearly discernible potential for a WDC Oscar has turned the page as he corrected his second main weakness - his frequent inability to nail Q3 laps rather than be 0.1 or so adrift. The steely, quiet determination, patience and calm have always been there, he's just extracting the last 1% on a regular basis. There will still be plenty of occasions where Lando will have the edge in sheer pace and especially race pace. Tomorrow may well be one of those in the tyre destroying heat and long corners of Barcelona.

If oscar imprpves his tire management more with a driver coach.. he.ll beat lando with ease

[BMMR61]

He's got one, a hard as nails Aussie who's a former F1 race winner. I wonder if Lando has someone serious in his team.

[Mcl_G10]

People continue to knock lando, it seems he will always be 'that' kind of driver people like to diminish perhaps because of how he is as a person it makes him an easier target become he generally gives more.
In my opinion he is the best driver at mclaren and right near the very top at the f1 grid and that's enough for me and will likely be enough for him to win the wdc this year. A so called terrible year from lando, tons of mistakes and he's still 3pts off top spot.
Onto today. First corner I fear carnage max MUST try something otherwise he knows the mclarens are gone. One of the mclarens MUST guard the inside line otherwise that's where max will put it and then squeeze the two mclarens into each other going into turn 2. Both cars despite being at the front are in very high jeopardy positions.
I don't hide the fact I'm a lando fan and from his perspective he must not allow a car to come between himself and Oscar as this will give oscar the time and space to scarper into the distance as has happened in a couple of races. I think today is Oscars biggest test of tyre management.
Aside from that I'm expecting ferrari to be fast perhaps fast enough to beat max.

[SilviuAgo]

The tires left for the race. If this will be a 2 stop race only Leclerc seems to be in a favorable position with 1 Hard and 2 Mediums. The rest of the top drivers rely on Hard - Medium (maybe the start tire) and Soft (also this is considered by Pirelli a good option due to grip advantage - see 3rd image).






source: Pirelli.

[cliffgamerz]

People continue to knock lando, it seems he will always be 'that' kind of driver people like to diminish perhaps because of how he is as a person it makes him an easier target become he generally gives more.
In my opinion he is the best driver at mclaren and right near the very top at the f1 grid and that's enough for me and will likely be enough for him to win the wdc this year. A so called terrible year from lando, tons of mistakes and he's still 3pts off top spot.
Onto today. First corner I fear carnage max MUST try something otherwise he knows the mclarens are gone. One of the mclarens MUST guard the inside line otherwise that's where max will put it and then squeeze the two mclarens into each other going into turn 2. Both cars despite being at the front are in very high jeopardy positions.
I don't hide the fact I'm a lando fan and from his perspective he must not allow a car to come between himself and Oscar as this will give oscar the time and space to scarper into the distance as has happened in a couple of races. I think today is Oscars biggest test of tyre management.
Aside from that I'm expecting ferrari to be fast perhaps fast enough to beat max.

Thing is, we all as an McLaren supporter/fan should just be blessed that we have amazing two drivers driving presently for the team and i don't think any other pairing on the current grid comes close at the moment, yes they are not at the level of Max but they both are doing a great job and crashing into each other or throwing tantrums at each other or the team, so we need to be happy.

[BMMR61]

Can't recall where I saw it (Mark Hughes The Race?) but my understanding is the C1 (hard) cannot be brought into a satisfactory operating window. The teams didn't realise this when they made their choices during the week and so are sitting on a big question mark. We'll see.