McLaren could be about to enter one of the most exciting seasons in their Formula 1 history.
Although McLaren won’t be expecting to repeat the dominance of the 1988 season, they do go into the campaign as the constructors’ champions.
Legendary drivers Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna won 15 out of 16 Grand Prix that year which previously held the record for the most dominant season in the sport’s history before Red Bull’s 2023 campaign.
However, it took team principal Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown just 12 months to topple Red Bull’s reign of supremacy by nailing their update packages during the current ground-effect era.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have a long way to go until they’re considered on the same level as Prost and Senna, but both know that their first drivers’ championship is an attainable goal this year.
Norris has suggested he’s not even thought about the championship yet, however, on the other side of the garage, Piastri believes it would be ‘silly’ to rule out a title challenge.
Ultimately, neither driver will know whether they have realistic targets until they compare the MCL39 to its rivals during testing in Bahrain and at the first race in Australia.
Lando Norris avoids answering question on McLaren’s 2025 championship chances
Norris and Piastri spoke to the press during the F1 75 launch event last week and the questioning unsurprisingly focused on whether they believe they can go beyond last year’s achievements and win both championships.
Journalist Alex Kalinauckas spoke on the Autosport podcast and shared more details about Norris’ response.
He said: “Lando Norris, when it came to the McLaren drivers doing their press conference, saying that he’s predicting that because of the rules being so stable, because of things being so close last year, the teams outside the top four, he says, can win too in 2025.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
“All the other teams say, well, McLaren are the favourites. They are clearly the favourites.
“And it’s not hard to see what they’re doing here. Lando Norris, that’s a masterclass in deflection from what he potentially might really be thinking to ease the pressure on his team.
“For everybody else, it’s all about piling pressure on McLaren. And it’s that very F1 Piranha Club thing. Everything is a battle and everything is worth winning.”
McLaren take new approach with 2025 car while Ferrari make more conservative changes
Formula 1 will be introducing new regulations next season, meaning every manufacturer has a decision to make on when to switch their focus to 2026.
There were therefore question marks over how much evolution would be seen in every car on the grid, but McLaren have made some bold design choices to try and maintain their advantage.
That could backfire as several teams on the grid discovered last year when they made revolutionary changes to their car, but McLaren proved last season that they have a decent track record when it comes to understanding the current ruleset.
READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine
Ferrari – alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull – are set to be McLaren’s nearest rivals and with Lewis Hamilton ready to make an impression at his new team, they’ll be more determined than ever to try and usurp the current champions.
McLaren have taken a bigger step than Ferrari with their 2025 car, but that comes with its own risks.
If they’ve gone in the wrong direction and lost even hundreds of a second, that could make all the difference during a season that’s expected to be closer than ever.
