2025 McLaren F1 Team

[Venturiation]

that late braking from piastri showed who the better driver is under pressure

[BMMR61]

Ill say it to the end of time. Mclaren needs special conditions to be the best car just like last years car. Oscar Piastri is making the difference this year.

I'd say the opposite, that in special circumstances the McLaren isn't the best car. The 24 race weekends at different types of tracks and variable temperature and weather produces a real test so that at the end of the year it should be clear who has the best car.

[FittingMechanics]

The car was probably best or close to it in Canada. This was masked for four reasons:
1. Cars qualified in P3 and P7 with the car with better tire management in P7
2. Piastri lost a position at the start
3. Norris was on an alternate strategy
4. Team didn't bring two mediums

If we got a slightly different quali, let's say just Norris starts P3 with PIA in P4, this is probably a victory for Norris.

[CjC]

The car was probably best or close to it in Canada. This was masked for four reasons:
1. Cars qualified in P3 and P7 with the car with better tire management in P7
2. Piastri lost a position at the start
3. Norris was on an alternate strategy
4. Team didn't bring two mediums

If we got a slightly different quali, let's say just Norris starts P3 with PIA in P4, this is probably a victory for Norris.

Agreed.

[CjC]

Ill say it to the end of time. Mclaren needs special conditions to be the best car just like last years car. Oscar Piastri is making the difference this year.

I'd say the opposite, that in special circumstances the McLaren isn't the best car. The 24 race weekends at different types of tracks and variable temperature and weather produces a real test so that at the end of the year it should be clear who has the best car.

Me too.
The MCL39 has been the best car over the last 10 races.
It has the least amount of weaknesses but when the the tarmac is smooth and not very abrasive it’s advantage is negated

[Watto]

The car was probably best or close to it in Canada. This was masked for four reasons:
1. Cars qualified in P3 and P7 with the car with better tire management in P7
2. Piastri lost a position at the start
3. Norris was on an alternate strategy
4. Team didn't bring two mediums

If we got a slightly different quali, let's say just Norris starts P3 with PIA in P4, this is probably a victory for Norris.

I thought Lando looked the better of the 2 most of the weekend.
I get it too the 2 critical times he didn't show it was Q3 when the pressure was on and the crash.

I get it WC don't make those mistakes when the pressure is really on, it will be interesting to see how Lando reacts in future races. One thing I have been a little critical of Lando is he doesn't often try unusual moves to catch an opponent by surprise he did with Oscar on the weekend which I though was a positive.It was much unlike Lando and care I say it something I thoughts straight from the Oscar playbook. And something I didn't think we really saw with Oscar this week.

Clearly misjudged the move on the start finish straight and paid the price - got too desperate and took too big a risk but I thought the mindset to try the moves was right.

Thought Lando was the quicker driver most of the weekend - it was Oscar the almost put the car in the wall in FP3.

Oscars calmness is a huge asset though and I though that was impotant to but I thought there were some positives of Lando too

[deadhead]

that late braking from piastri showed who the better driver is under pressure

Why was he so slow in the race? It reminded me of last year where he was slower than NOR on race pace at multiple tracks

[FittingMechanics]

Clearly misjudged the move on the start finish straight and paid the price - got too desperate and took too big a risk but I thought the mindset to try the moves was right.

Thought Lando was the quicker driver most of the weekend - it was Oscar the almost put the car in the wall in FP3.

Oscars calmness is a huge asset though and I though that was impotant to but I thought there were some positives of Lando too

Lando made a mistake there, but I think he was well aware that it is very likely that he gets pushed wide if he goes around the outside. Just like Piastri went late on the brakes for the final corner, it is likely he would have went deep into T1, Norris then has to bail off track and concede the position back.

I am 100% in favor of him always going toward the inside, that is a massively advantageous with the current racing rules. But obviously, you can't run into people.

Lando should have kept the inside before last corner and then he would take the place.

[mwillems]

that late braking from piastri showed who the better driver is under pressure

Why was he so slow in the race? It reminded me of last year where he was slower than NOR on race pace at multiple tracks

He just is sometimes. But he's also been legitmately faster in some races this year. Another step forward for him.

The ebb and flow is normal but I agree that this weekend he did drop his standards more than you'd like. That said, Oscar was held up by Kimi and then by some unfortunate traffic timing. In clean air the gap to Lando wasn't so big. But at the same time, Lando was clearly better in dirty air than Oscar was. I suspect Oscars style, leaning on the rears, might just not be compatible with a low grip track - and he wasn't able to adjust.

[Emag]

Finally saw the race as a replay. Quite a bit more boring than I thought it would be after quali. In the end, track position was critical and the tires were degrading like crazy. McLaren tried, but there wasn't a big enough pace advantage to make an impact with such poor track position after lap 1. Quali should have been prioritized, maybe something for them to look into and evaluate is the reasoning why they were against using a set of mediums in Q3.

I was surprised with how good Mercedes were around here, but they have been quite decent in Canada these last couple of years, so I will reserve judgement of improved pace/deg until we've seen a couple more races from them. On the other hand, deg on the RedBull, especially on the earlier stints with heavier fuel, was way more than I expected them to have. So that was also a surprise.

Oscar also showed that he is lacking something in tire management to Lando still, although its no where near as bad as it was last year. In any case, if the cars were reversed, I think Lando would have made the podium at least, but I doubt he would be able to overtake Max on track to go beyond that anyway.

I guess there is no need for me to comment the incident at the end. Lando already accepted responsibility, which was the only correct outcome. A very very poor showcase of decision-making in a racing situation and it's not the first time he does it. I don't know why Lando tries to put his nose where there is no room for it. He did it in Suzuka as well against Max on the pit exit. The last time this maneuver of his worked was back in 2021, Monza, where he overtook Leclerc by going partially off-track. And that only happened because Leclerc was nice enough to give him enough room. He should stop going for these pointless and dangerous moves. Could have ended in a double dnf.