Max Verstappen was put under a lot of pressure to defend his world championship for much of the season.
The Dutchman clinched his fourth world championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix despite not having the fastest car for much of the year.
McLaren made significant improvements over the year, particularly after the Miami Grand Prix and throughout the European season over the summer.
Lando Norris won his first Grand Prix in Miami and took three more victories, including a critical drive in Abu Dhabi to win the Constructors’ Championship.
The British driver took a step forward this season and experienced a championship battle for the first time in his career.
Former Formula 1 driver Marc Surer explained that McLaren missed a critical opportunity to make Verstappen start to worry about the title fight.
McLaren failed to deliver a warning to Max Verstappen in Hungary
The Hungarian Grand Prix turned into a difficult race for McLaren despite the British team enjoying a commanding one-two position.
Oscar Piastri led the way ahead of Norris, but the British driver emerged from the pit lane in front of his teammate in the lead.
This sparked a chaotic final few laps, and the Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner didn’t understand McLaren’s antics over the team radio.
Norris reluctantly let his teammate pass him towards the end of the race, giving up seven points as he looked to gain ground on Verstappen.
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Surer explained that Norris and McLaren missed the chance to keep Verstappen wary of them in the title fight.
He told Formel1.de: “It was clear that Lando Norris was the faster man. Piastri has super talent and a great future, but this year, we said we have to go for the number one, especially the team management in Hungary.
“There, I can still shake my head. If Lando Norris had scored more points than Red Bull, Max Verstappen would probably also have been more nervous.”
Verstappen had a difficult day in Hungary as he collided with Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1 before slumping to fifth place as the summer break approached.
Putting Max Verstappen under pressure can push him into mistakes
Verstappen was under pressure for much of this year and had difficult days, such as in Hungary, where he crashed with Hamilton.
The Red Bull driver also made contact in a needless incident with Norris at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, dropping him to fifth place from the lead.
He also hit Piastri on the opening lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which caused the reigning champion to get a penalty.
Verstappen reacted in a bad way on the radio after serving the penalty, which split opinions after the race heading into the winter.
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