With six rounds left in the season, McLaren had already secured the World Constructors’ Championship. What should have been a weekend of nothing but celebration, in reality, put all of the team’s biggest flaws on full display. Yes, the trophy belongs to them, but what is brewing beneath the friendly papaya surface?
The cracks within McLaren have been visible since 2024, but 2025 made them clearer than ever. The team was repeatedly portrayed as ‘a family’, and their drivers played the part of close friends. Zak Brown, the team’s CEO, emphasized fairness between the garages and always highlighted that there was no ‘number one driver‘. Despite McLaren’s best efforts, tensions within the team only rose as fans called out controversial decisions and alleged ‘favouritism’.
July’s Silverstone Grand Prix was the perfect example of a weekend that left McLaren fans fuming. After some weather-caused turmoil, Oscar Piastri emerged as a Grand Prix leader. It seemed like he would easily cruise to victory until he received a ten-second penalty for a safety car infringement. This put him behind his teammate, who went on to take the win, despite Piastri loudly voicing his discontent with both the penalty and Lando Norris not being told to let him by.
Did Piastri deserve to be punished? Yes. Would it have been fair for McLaren to instruct Norris to give up his home win? Probably not. What really mattered was that the tense podium revealed that things weren’t all rosy and beautiful within the team. The team didn’t interfere in that case, but they did get involved in a few other situations. During the Monza Grand Prix, Norris lost position to his teammate after a terrible pitstop. Because the team, not the driver, caused the mistake, Piastri was instructed to give back the position.
Once again, the fairness of the decision was only one side of the conversation. The other focused on the tensions it raised within the team and the precedents it had set for future races. Without a clear ‘number one’, the team ended up stealing points away not from one, but both their drivers.
How does the Singapore Grand Prix come into play? By all means, it was McLaren’s crowning glory, bringing them their second WCC in a row. Still, things were rotten beneath the shiny surface. By that point in the season, with the team’s drop in performance, Max Verstappen had somewhat rejoined the Championship fight. For the first time in quite a few months, Norris and Piastri truly felt the looming threat of the WDC going to someone other than themselves.
It was therefore no surprise that they worked hard for every little point. At the very beginning of the race, they ended up fighting each other and even making slight contact by the very first turn. Norris came out on top, and Piastri took to the radio to complain about the close racing, calling out the Brit for not being very ‘team-like’. Once again, the intra-team tensions were displayed for all Formula One fans to see.
The situation only became worse after the race ended. Norris finished 3rd and was therefore on the podium, celebrating McLaren’s WCC with the team. Piastri, despite being the one to score more points for the team, wasn’t included in the joyous moment. He could only watch it on the screens of the media pen.
The rising tensions and refusal to back one driver didn’t cost McLaren the WCC, but they might end up being the reason they lose the WDC for the second year in a row. Of course, Norris and Piastri still have quite a big advantage over Verstappen, but the Dutchman keeps slowly but surely chipping away at their lead. While this is still not the time to declare him the winner, the papaya drivers are no longer as safe as they were early in the season. The other teams moved forward, while McLaren seemingly stayed in the same place.
For the first half of the season, McLaren was so dominant that they didn’t have to think about improving, but now that the other teams are slowly catching up, their best is no longer enough. The team that seemed unbeatable suddenly fell into disarray. Aside from the problems I have already mentioned, they are constantly messing up their driver’s pit stops and compromising their strategy. They have found themselves on a downward spiral that puts in question winning the WDC this year, not to mention being competitive in 2026.
McLaren is a curious case. On the one hand, they are the dominant team this season. On the other hand, week after week, I write about their Grand Prix performances simply because of how much controversy they generate. For the supposedly best team, they aren’t doing all that great. How does that bode for their future seasons?
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter here. Check out Stadium Rant Original shows on our Youtube channel and subscribe! Give our socials Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok a follow for more great content!
