McLaren has emerged as the dominant force in 2025 having won four of the first five races of the season with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
After winning the Constructors’ Championship in 2024, McLaren has followed up with a car that is capable of ending Max Verstappen’s unbeaten run in the last four seasons.
Piastri currently leads the Drivers’ title race having won three races, while Norris has only won the season opener in Melbourne. Norris made a critical mistake in Saudi Arabia that put him P10 on the grid, but he recovered well to fourth place after making his way through the field.
The Briton is hopeful his team can produce upgrades to make it easier for him to drive, after McLaren identified a driving weakness Norris has compared to Piastri.
It’s clear McLaren will be the team to beat heading into the European swing of the season, but CEO Zak Brown has highlighted one stat that shows they can’t be complacent when speaking to The Race.
- READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine
Zak Brown highlights McLaren points deficit to Red Bull in 2024
Red Bull is working hard behind the scenes to produce an upgrade that will enable them to catch up to McLaren, knowing that it could impact their position with Max Verstappen in the future.
McLaren turned around their fortunes last season and overcame a significant points deficit to win the Constructors’ title, and Brown believes that it’s possible Red Bull could achieve the same this season.
“The fact that we’ve won four out of five races, that sounds pretty dominant and it is statistically. It didn’t feel like in Saudi Arabia that they dominated. We had Max within two seconds of us, we had Charles Leclerc with us, in the qualifying sessions a tenth or two covers the top five cars,” said Brown.
“When I think of domination, I think of Lewis and Mercedes checking out and lapping the field. We aren’t lapping the field. Every win has felt like we were one pit stop or tyre selection away from someone beating us.
“Andrea just showed at our debrief yesterday, we’re 99 points ahead of Red Bull now, this time last year we were 99 points behind Red Bull and we won the championship and they finished third. So it’s way too early to be having any sort of comfort that our lead is big.”
Can Red Bull replicate McLaren’s mid-season turnaround?
Red Bull has been the team to beat since the current regulation cycle was introduced in 2022, but last season they suffered their first defeat in four years.
While their car was just as competitive on track as it was in previous years and won Verstappen his fourth drivers title, there was clearly a massive performance gulf between him and Sergio Perez.
| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
188 |
| 2 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
111 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
89 |
| 4 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
78 |
| 5 |
Williams F1 Team |
25 |
| 6 |
Haas F1 Team |
20 |
| 7 |
Aston Martin F1 Team |
10 |
| 8 |
Racing Bulls |
8 |
| 9 |
Alpine F1 Team |
6 |
| 10 |
Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber |
6 |
Perez was replaced in 2025 due to poor performance and effectively costing Red Bull the Constructors’ title, but their replacement has not worked out planned.
Liam Lawson lasted only two races, and now Yuki Tsunoda is suffering from the same struggles. To replicate McLaren’s turnaround, they will need to have a strong number two driver to back up Verstappen.
