McLaren is the team to beat in 2025 after the first two races showed dominant performances from both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
The team led their first one-two victory of the season in China, despite some late race jeopardy for Norris which involved him having to manage a brake problem.
Piastri took a clean lights-to-flag victory just a week on from fumbling a potential win in Melbourne, having skated off track in the damp conditions.
He rejoined the race a lap down and after a late safety car enabled him to get back onto the lead lap, Piastri pulled off a stunning overtake on Lewis Hamilton for ninth place.
McLaren has looked like the team to beat since they set the pace in pre-season testing, but those within the team are wary of what their advantage over the rest of the pack could bring internally according to journalist Laurence Edmondson speaking on the ESPN Unlapped podcast.
McLaren don’t want to ‘throw away’ advantage through fears of 2026
McLaren set the tone early in the season when they implemented team orders between Norris and Piastri at the Australian GP, and again told the former not to attack while nursing a brake issue in China.
Andrea Stella did not rule out using team orders at the start of the season, should they be nessasary. It appears they are trying to manage the situation a lot more internally, knowing their current advantage could be impacted from 2026.
“The other thing with McLaren is that these seasons, where you have a big advantage over the rest of the field, don’t come along very often and they certainly haven’t happened for McLaren in a very long time,” said Edmondson.
“So there is this eagerness within the team not to throw something away because a rivalry develops between their drivers.”
- READ MORE: Everything you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine
What impact will F1’s 2026 rules have on the competitive order?
F1 will switch to brand-new engine and chassis rules for the 2026 season, which is set to shake up the competitive order.
Aston Martin is expected to be competitive with Adrian Newey onboard, while ex-Mercedes man Andy Cowell will also be pivotal in their fortunes.
Red Bull will be bringing in car giant Ford to help with the development of their power units, while Mercedes is also expected to come out as a strong package.
McLaren is a customer team so does not have influence on the power unit package, but if they build a good enough chassis they should still be one of the top teams.
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