How McLaren ‘caused problems’ for themselves in title battle with Max Verstappen and Red Bull

McLaren ended a 26-year winless run at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the Woking-based outfit won the Constructors’ Championship for the first time since 1998.

Lando Norris converted his eighth pole position of the season to victory as McLaren won the title by 14 points over Ferrari. But the race was far from plain sailing as Oscar Piastri was sent to the back of the field after contact with Max Verstappen at turn one.

This left Norris vulnerable to the charging Ferraris with Carlos Sainz putting pressure on the Brit throughout the race while Charles Leclerc stormed the field to third from 19th.

Sainz attempted to undercut Norris at the pit stops, but McLaren reacted quickly to box the Brit and keep him ahead of the Ferrari. Andrea Stella said it was the ‘most important’ pit stop of the season as Norris stayed in front to secure the team the title over Ferrari.

Winning the Constructors’ Championship will be a sigh of relief for McLaren, not just because they ended a 26-year losing streak, but also because they lost out to Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the Drivers’ Championship.

Norris was Verstappen’s closest challenger for the title in 2024 and had the faster car for much of the year after Red Bull suffered a dramatic decline in performance. However, the McLaren driver was unable to take advantage as several costly errors for Norris ended up leaving him 63 points behind Verstappen.

McLaren ’caused problems’ for themselves with their papaya rules in battle with Red Bull

For journalist Tom Clarkson, McLaren ’caused problems’ for themselves when they introduced ‘papaya rules’ for Norris and Piastri when battling on track. The idea from McLaren was to give Norris the best possible chance to win the title by instructing Piastri to race his teammate cleanly.

Speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast, Clarkson says it ‘exposed’ McLaren as a team that is not ‘battle-hardened’ like Red Bull, as they came up with scenarios before a race they never ended up happening.

“If there’s one area I feel they’ve been exposed this year, they’re not as battle-hardened as the people they are now racing at the front of Formula 1,” he said.

“I mean look at Red Bull, they’ve had so much thrown at them this year, yet actually they are still a brilliant racing team here at the track. I’ve been blown away by how Red Bull have managed to, the guys and girls in the garage and what they’re delivering at the race track, they’re so battle-hardened.

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“And I feel McLaren have still got a bit to learn there. And I feel the papaya rules, they came out with all of these scenarios in the media that. most of which never actually happened and I feel that they created problems for themselves by talking about it in advance.

“And I think as a racing team at the front, you talk about what has happened when you have to, but don’t start putting scenarios out there because you’re just going to tie yourself in a mess.”

Will 2025 be the year for McLaren to win the Drivers’ Championship?

After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it would be fair to say that McLaren will be the team to beat in 2025, with Ferrari close behind in performance.

McLaren’s exciting driver pairing of Norris and Piastri have proven they can fight consistently at the front and with their strong package this season, they will be looking to stamp their authority on the championship from the off.

But the team will face heavy competition from their rivals. Ferrari’s signing of Lewis Hamilton is certain to give them a boost heading into 2025 with his experience and clear ability that he still displays at the age of 39. Hamilton produced a vintage performance in Abu Dhabi to finish fourth from P16 in his final outing with Mercedes.

Verstappen will be looking to grab his fifth consecutive title next season – a feat only accomplished by Michael Schumacher back in 2000-2004. Despite not having the fastest car, the Dutchman proved in 2024 that he can extract the best out of his machine and give him the best chance of keeping his lead in the championship.