McLaren has enjoyed one of its strongest seasons to date, having clinched the 2024 Constructors’ Championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
It is the ninth Constructors’ title for McLaren in its 60-year history, after outscoring Ferrari by 14 points despite a double podium for the Maranello squad.
McLaren’s chances looked in jeopardy when Oscar Piastri was spun out by Max Verstappen on the opening lap, earning the Red Bull driver penalty points on his super licence that put him close to a one-race ban.
Norris drove an assured race, with Martin Brundle tipping the Briton to be the favourite for the 2025 title after taking the lights-to-flag win. Andrea Stella praised his McLaren team for completing the ‘most important’ pit stop of the season without any issue.
Discussing their season on his YouTube channel, former F1 mechanic Marc Priestley has identified the ‘leap forward’ made by McLaren and how it will help them beat Verstappen in 2025.
Marc Priestley how McLaren will learn a lot from 2024 to beat Max Verstappen
It has been a remarkable turnaround for McLaren after starting off the 2023 season with a slow and unreliable car.
A lot of changes were made to the backroom staff at the team, including Stella ‘unleashing’ a former Red Bull aerodynamicist who was poached by the team.
Although McLaren came under criticism for the way it has handled team orders this year, Priestley thinks they will learn from their mistakes.
“The team and Lando have learned so much this year. This was a massively steep learning curve for the team, so to come away with a title as well as all the learning is a massive bonus,” said Priestley.
“If they hadn’t won a title this year, you’d still look at this season and say ‘massive success’ for McLaren because of what they’ve achieved in terms of the progression of their journey. They’ve taken a giant leap forward. 2025 will be a big year for McLaren, competition will be tough, but everything they learned this year can be put into practice.”
Who will come out on top at McLaren?
Both Norris and Piastri could be in with a chance of winning a championship next year if McLaren continue their upward trajectory.
Next year’s car will likely be an evolution of the MCL38 as the team shifts focus to designing their 2026 car from January, when every team will be allowed to begin work.
READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine
Nico Rosberg expects Norris will win the title in 2025 in another head-to-head scenario with Verstappen, given how well he drove under pressure in Abu Dhabi.
However, Piastri has shown that he is unwilling to yield to the Dutchman in his first-lap crash, which could mean that he is more ruthless on track than Norris.
