Every team on the Formula 1 grid face a different set of challenges heading into the 2025 season.
All 20 F1 drivers will have different aspirations and while for some that might be winning the championship, for others, that may be simply achieving a top 10 finish at some point during the campaign.
The 2025 season is the final year of the current ruleset and while many are expecting the battles at the front of the grid to be closer than ever, there’s also a risk that it becomes a two-tiered competition.
There are already concerns about Sauber’s 2025 car after a disappointing season last year, while Aston Martin might be the ninth-fastest team on the grid having secured multiple podiums just two years ago.
Formula 1’s driver’s market was frenetic last year and only Aston Martin and McLaren didn’t make a change over the winter.
This means that the dynamics in each team are completely different and while some – such as Red Bull and Mercedes – have a clear number one driver with more experience, others know that they’ve got a feisty intra-team battle on their hands.
Romain Grosjean was speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast and identified one team that could struggle to control their drivers if they’re not careful.
Romain Grosjean wonders if McLaren face Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost conundrum in 2025
The ex-Haas, Renault and Lotus F1 driver was asked about McLaren’s prospects for 2025 and said: “I think Lando does a great job.
“I think there was something about the start when he was on pole and I think that was a lot of talking for not much and he corrected it later.
“I do think that McLaren is in a very, very tricky situation because they have both fantastic drivers, both very fast drivers, young drivers.
“And it’s not like one or the other wants to take it easy. They’re both at the beginning of their career.
“So I think McLaren is going to have to make some very difficult choices and we’ve seen it with every team in Formula 1. And McLaren knows it very well from the past.
“Remember, Prost and Senna. I mean, it didn’t end up the best way.
READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine
“But it’s the reality of Formula 1. We always say your teammate is your first opponent. He’s the only guy that has the same tool as you and you want to beat him even more than everyone else.
“So I think that’s going to be the managing part that’s going to be very, very tricky to McLaren.
“They’ve done everything else fantastic, Lando and Oscar are both fantastic drivers. I don’t think they need to be elbows out.
“I think there needs to be a clear path of what they want to achieve and how they want to achieve [it].”
Damon Hill has warned Lando Norris about ‘trap’ he can’t fall into this F1 season
Lando Norris goes into this season as one of the favourites as long as McLaren’s advantage in testing was representative of the pecking order on the grid.
He’s more experienced than Oscar Piastri and when he’s on form the Australian can’t yet match his one-lap pace, although both drivers added to McLaren’s 189 Grand Prix wins last year.
Piastri has yet to secure his first pole position, however, if he’s improved that aspect of his racing over the winter then he’ll be a serious threat to Norris and Verstappen.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
Damon Hill has sent a warning to Norris about how to approach this season given how close it could be.
He may not get a better chance to win his first title with the upcoming rule change and he has to set a marker at the Australian Grand Prix that he’s the man to beat this season.
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