Zak can take a huge amount of credit - because of what he has done away from the track. Getting (lots) of sponsorship money, and spending wisely on the foundations needed for speed - wind tunnel, CFD, kit to help build a better car. And he knows how to build a better team - hire good people and trust them and get out of their way. Really looks to me like he deliberately plays the part of the host and extrovert to take attention off the more introverted Stella, so Stella can focus on the need for speed!
Took a lot longer than 15 years since they were disqualified from the 2007 constructors championship. Its been 26 years since winning the constructors in 1998 with Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard
They were talking titles in general. The last title they won was in 2008 with Lewis Hamilton getting his first driver's title 16 years ago (so they haven't won a title in 15 years).
@@Gamurboi They wouldn't have been a works team to begin with. They were going to start with a Renault engine deal which yeah how should we expect you to be competitive when you have by far the worst engine in the sport?
Yeah it just took forever. I’m surprised zak was able to stick around long enough to get it better. For years they kept saying it is going to improve and it just never did
@@AlanpittsS2b It took no time at all. He came onboard in 2016 and was in charge by 2018. At that point, they were backmarkers. To get the team back to challenging for wins and podium in two to four years was amazing enough, but to go from 9th to 1st in 6 or 8 years is remarkable. Changing an organization of that size and scale doesn't happen in a few weeks. Anyone who's ever worked in a large enterprise would know that
At least you can admit it instead of pretending to have had no doubts about Zac like 90% of this comment section is doing. It's pathetic how many "fans" of this sport seem to switch their tune when someone starts winning
I couldn't be happier for McLaren. It was just 9 years ago that they were last of the points scoring teams in 2015, and after much pain, embarrassment and restructuring, it has finally gained its first Constructors Championship title since 1998, 26 long years of waiting, over
@Arrzarrina that's only 2 years less than the amount of time I've followed the sport XD the first Grand Prix I tuned in to watch was Japan 1996, when Damon Hill scored his 8th win of the year and his only world title
21 день тому+1
I've been supporting McLaren since Senna and Prost. These young people who support drivers like Max don't understand what a constructors championships mean to people like me. I've supported McLaren through the ups and downs and was concerned we might fade away like Williams did. I'm glad I chose McLaren all those years ago because we'll always come back, and the losses just make victory feel so much better. 😊
Aye. So many people only care about the WDC, but a lot of us who have been following longer than any individual driver's career have teams and the WCC to follow.
The craziest thing is that for the last 3 years it really looked like only Mercades and Ferrari were well placed to take the fight to Red Bull with McLaren down in the midfield pack. So they have basically caught up to and then leapfrogged the three teams that have been dominant in the ground effect era in the space of one season.
Me personally, If I were McLaren, I would go all out on the 2025 season, as most teams are gonna want to focus their attention on the 2026 regulations. But at the same time, they're gonna want to fight for the title, as it is their best chance. So McLaren I think is a big driver for how other teams are gonna react for their development resources for 2026, as McLaren are the world champions, and if they maintain their winning form and improve upon an already rocketship car, then for sure they can seal the driver's and constructors championships next season.
If you told me after bahrain in 2023 Mclaren would have won the constructors after a season where they plateau and looked like they had no clue what they wanted. I would've laughed flat on my ass. 2013-22 we didn't even look like we could win races on pure pace. It is extraordinary how Mclaren have managed to acheive this and go into 2025 as the form team with ferrari
The Merc engine seems to be becoming the DFV of the Hybrid era. The Go-To Engine for customers. Rules obviously limit how many customers they can have but overall they seem to be the first choice customer engine supplier.
i think it might be down to the relationship they offer to the customers. Obviously we don't really know how Ferrari or Honda operate with their customers but from the sounds of it having the customers be a part of the design process, having their thoughts taken on board, if Mercedes are the only team that do that then it would explain why so many want to work with them.
While Brown and Norris have been there throughout this unlikely Mclaren ascent back to the top of F1, But lets also praise Piastri, but also Andrea Stella (Team Principal), Richard Marton (Racing Director) and Will Joseph and Jai Hindley (Norris & Piastri Race Engineers) for playing their part in getting Mclaren their record equalling 13th Constructors Championship
I remember being hooked on the Hakkinen years, the Lewis/Fernando years, and I remember how thrilled I was to hear the name "McLaren Honda" - and the disappointment that followed. And then McLaren became a B-class team, trudging the midfield - a shadow of it's former self. I'm so happy their back at the front again. Papaya is not the colour I'm used to when thinking of winning McLaren, but hey, it's still great to see!
@@tshepososnot quite but they had to mortage / sell + lease back the MTC and also secure fresh investment. Some of that stemmed from the road car division not doing great but all that has changed now thankfully.
McLaren might as well be a works team, they manage to make better use of the engine than the actual works team during this Ground Effects era. 🤣🤣 Also reliability was insane, too. Zero DNFs from both drivers, no engine problem throughout the entire season. Hell, Piastri managed to complete every single lap this season.
I started watching F1 during Häkkinen's time at McLaren and going to season finale with McLaren and Ferrari fighting for a championship felt like being back to the good old times. But the good old times are happening now. The past decade has definitely been rough time to be a McLaren fan and there were times when it seemed like McLaren were forever going to be stuck in the midfield, or worse, with their glory days far behind them. Seeing the team's resurgence has been such a joy to watch. Congratulations to everyone in the team for making it happen and to F1 for the rules that leveled up the playing field between works teams and customers as well. Healthier competition between the teams makes F1 better and this year proved it.
McLaren's main problem for next year (and probably 26) are their two drivers. That's a rivalry ready to blow up. They'll have a barrier separating the garage by the summer break if they don't sort that out.
Time to thank Mercedes for letting that happen. Its also their title win. And also thanks to the FIA to changing the rules so that costumers get the same engine as the works team. Overall its a win for everyone because we as fans got an amazing season with not one but two title fights.
I'm glad someone else brought this up. They changed the rules to standardise PU connections. There is no "proven wrong", the field of play has changed.
How curious that, exactly 50 years after McLaren won its first drivers title with Emerson Fittipaldi in 1974, led by an American, Teddy Mayer, it took the constructors title in 2024 also led by an American, Zak Brown.
A quick scroll through Wikipedia suggests that this is only the second time in history that a customer team has beaten its engine supplier’s works team to win the Constructor’s Championship. The other time was Red Bull beating a declining Renault in 2010 before they sold to Lotus in 2011.
People are in here acting like checo gifted them the championship when choosing the right driver IS PART OF BEING A GOOD CONSTRUCTOR. Not to mention their car is great.
Checo was hired by McLaren in 2013 to replace the departing Hamilton. McLaren dropped Checo after a single season for he was no match for Button, a driver 10 years older than him. Too many people rationalized that it was McLaren's fault they didn't get Perez to perform. I believed he simply didn't have the potential to be anything but average and mid-field. I was astounded when Red Bull signed him but I believe his fantastic sponsorship deal and Red Bull commercial rights in South America swayed their mind. Now? Well, doesn't surprise me one bit.
What McLaren has done is very impressive. It also gives me hope that with the right pieces in place that Williams can regain its former glory. It’s been painful to watch both McLaren and Williams’ fall from grace. I’d like as many teams to be at the top as possible, especially those with storied names.
Williams is interesting to look forward to for a few reasons. This is my opinion. Feel free to disagree. 1. Williams have been like the Mercedes' feeder team. Not only they supply engines for Williams, Mercedes' key personnel are also involved with James Vowles being team principal and Toto as a co-owner. 2. Their ex-driver, George Russell made a step up after spending few years in Williams being closely monitored by Mercedes. 3. Sainz joining Leclerc will provide a solid driver line-up for the next few years. 4. Sainz's move to Williams also brought in key sopnsorship with Santander recently announced a new partnership with the team after splitting with Ferrari. All in all, I hope Williams can have a resurgence as successful as McLaren while also being realistic with the process.
@@luqmanhakimi910 I'm looking forward to seeing if Carlos can help drive the team forward. I rate Carlos highly based on what he's done in F1 so far agaisnt his team mates. I hope he can find that last little bit of consistency since I think that the speed is there. 2025 is shaping up to be a very interesting year.
the problem with Williams is that they are operationally a much smaller team than McLaren and they take almost all the essential parts from Mercedes. Unless they change that or make an insane aero platform it would be difficult to imagine them being any more than a podium contender or occasional race winner
When Zak Brown became Mclaren CEO in 2018 after those two ninth place seasons with Honda (2016 & 2017) he set these ambitions Sign a driver who could win races get Mclaren back on a Podium in a Grand Prix get Mclaren back to the Top 3 in the Constructors Championship get Mclaren back to winning a Grand Prix and win either a Drivers/Constructors Championship within 10 years the results Sign a driver who could win races (Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri) get Mclaren back on a Podium in a Grand Prix (2020 Austrian Grand Prix, Norris 3rd) get Mclaren back to the Top 3 in the Constructors Championship (2020, 3rd) get Mclaren back to winning a Grand Prix (2024 Miami Grand Prix won by Norris, Ending a 235 Race win Drought, Hamilton, Austin 2012) and win either a Drivers/Constructors Championship within 10 years (2024 Constructors Championship, ending a 16 Year title Drought, 2008)
Sainz actually got the first podium for McLaren in the Zak Brown era at Brazil 2019 And Danny Ric ended the winning drought since Button at Brazil 2012 at Italy 2021
There is a difference between being able to produce a good engine and not wanting to give the team the money to produce a good engine. There is a reason why people are fleeing Alpine. Renault was the first team that I cheered for and it sucks to see them go downhill. The only thing they could do to support the team less is to withdraw from F1 entirely.
I mustn't be part of the "Rest of the World" because I genuinely believe it is more impressive and indicative of a brilliant team to win the Constructors.
6:10, for the record this is called a "Partner" relationship where you pay a cheaper rate and get to influence the engine but not having the final say and best specification of parts
Having been a full time car manufacturer for over a decade now, I wonder if McLaren will ever design and build its own F1 engines. I always find it odd that a car manufacturer in F1 buys in its engines from a rival car company.
I mean, even its road cars have all historically used the same engine - one that descends from a preexisting Nissan design from the late 80's, at that. It's only with the Artura that McLaren has just now built its own engine.
The money needed to design, produce and test engines for the science fair on wheels that is F1 is magnitudes greater than for any other component, even combined.
He was right at time. There was no way to predict the rule changes that ended up leveling the playing field between customers and works teams after works teams had been enjoying preferential treatment for decades. And while the Honda experiment failed, at least it forced the team to face its own shortcomings and improve. It was a rough journey, but if McLaren had just settled down to being a Mercedes engine customer from the get go, I doubt they would be world champions today.
@@paperplane-db8qf IMO probably not. The reason why Honda struggled with McLaren was because Honda had to build the engine around the McLaren car. For Red Bull, it was the other way around, Honda had much more freedom to design their engines
Zak and Andrea deserve a lot of credit for this one they really turned it around for mclaren. I never thought mclaren would be constructors champions again.
If I'm not mistaken Eric Bouiller was also the same person who rewarded workers at the McLaren factory a Freddo chocolate for getting a key upgrade package out in 2018 which led to those same factory workers going on strike, he was also the same person who said the French Grand Prix would continue past 2022...
It is interesting in the discussion of how the "customer" teams receiving essentially the same engine how this somewhat parallels the FIAs stance in the WEC regarding the Hyper Cars there. In WEC the customer teams receive the same exact cars, engines and upgrades as the "works" manufacturer teams. This was unlike it was years and decades ago where essentially the "customer teams" receive second hand cars in some cases.
In reality, the drivers' championship means absolutely nothing, as it's 99% the cars' ability to take straight line speed in and out of corners that wins the championship. It's crazy to me that it's the constructors that is the secondary title in F1.
You missed one key point on why McLaren became the title winner: reliability. And not because the Mercedes engine is reliable, but because McLaren learned from their mistakes with mounting them and using them. One thing that plagued McLaren since the Ron Dennis days was engine reliability. Hakkinen, Raikkonen and Hamilton all lost titles because the McLaren had the tendency to just go up in smoke out of the blue. Everyone blamed Honda for being crap. But McLaren had their fair share of blame on that blunder. Of course they blamed Honda, just like they blamed Mercedes during 2000-2013 for the lost titles. (Even with Mercedes proving with their works team that the engine was reliable, by having 80% less problems than McLaren, they still insisted it's the engine). It was never them, always the engine supplier. Then Honda started working with RB, in a couple of years they became a reliable engine. Another couple of years and they were fighting for the titles and after the rules changes, even dominating. They became the better engine. Meanwhile McLaren changed to Renault and were burning engine covers and having all kind of overheating issues. It finally sink in that maybe it wasn't just the engine at fault, since during those years, Renault works teams wasn't having as many problems as McLaren. All of that made the mentality change, like you guys said, the excuses mentality had to go, McLaren improved in reliability and here they are, Constructor's Champions.
Yeah, after all the "we have the best chassis but a subpar engine" comments, switch to Renault engines and still being nowhere was a wake up call for McLaren that maybe things on the Woking side weren't perfect either. The team needed to become aware of their own shortcomings to fix them, and thankfully that's what they've done the past few years.
Eh that's a bit much. McLaren had fine reliability from '07-'14 apart from 2012. Far better than Red Bull. And they had a very similar amount of technical issues as Renault when they had their engines. And don't forget all the issues Red Bull had with those engines before they switched. Sure they certainly had a lot of internal issues that they got rid of in the past couple of years and they share some blame during McHonda but let's not pretend those engines weren't absolutely tragic on both performance and reliability on their own.
It's been long years but finally McLaren are champions after many years and the first team to do so, excluding Red Bull and Mercedes (known as Brawn GP in 2009)!!!
It can only help Mercedes to have a 2nd works team (in all but name) in terms of feedback and advice as well. But still, a lot to be commended in making that customer relationship work & still win the teams championship, regardless of how many qualifiers can be made by detractors
Pretty sure the FIA legislated that all PUs had to have standardised connections i.e. plug and play. That wasn't the case at the start of 2014 so there is no "proven wrong". The rules were different then and have since been changed.
Pretty awesome when a customer team outperforms and beats the manufacturer team. Funny enough last time this happened it (Brawn) was also Mercedes powered.
!! Congratulations to McLaren !! It's Long Over-Due but Nicely Done to EVERYONE at McLaren's F1 Team !!! On a slightly different note.....I've always said that each team should design, build and use their own engines rather than being able to use one from a rival team.....But I understand why they do it the way they do.
Yes and no. RB had it in them to can Sergio and go with another driver. RB went down the wrong development path and made it very difficult for Sergio to get the most out of the car. McLaren did not make big mistakes while RB had 2 (driver and car development path). You may not agree with me, but let me say this..........Reubens was a very integral part in Ferrari's run of dominance. My understanding is that Michael could and would drive around issues but Reubens was extremely sensitive to the car and was able to make sure the team was heading down the right path. In this case Sergio said, last year, the path RB was taking was the wrong one and it finally showed. Last item, is the form of McLaren. I've been watching F1 since 2005 and have never seen a team come back as far as they have in a single season to unseat the points leaders. It really helps that this is the cost cap era, era of reduced testing, and ground effects. Even RB in 2009 couldn't close the gap to Brawn and they clearly had the best car from the summer break to the end of the season.
@@TeeRollssstop with the excuses for Perez. “Wrong development path” like in 2023 when the car was winning every race 😂 and Perez was still struggling. If a car can with the championship it’s a driver job to adapt. The Redbull is a much better car than Mercedes and every other team and you don’t see other drivers yapping so much like Perez.
@@paperplane-db8qfis Perez as good a driver as Verstappen? I don't think you'll find anyone who thinks so. Given that you've never driven the RB maybe you should stop yapping about what you think Perez should and shouldn't be able to adapt to.
@@paperplane-db8qf You don't believe RB went down the wrong path? The car couldn't even ride curbs in the start of the season. RB was the best car at the start of the year and at the end of the season at best it's 3rd, maybe even 4th. Max won 9 races this year but 7 of those were within the first 10 races of the year, since then he is 2 for 14 in race wins. That does not indicate the best car on the grid. Max banked a ton of early points and held on (deservedly so) to win the WDC. Yes I agree that Sergio underperformed but the 2024 RB is not the all conquering car you make it out to be. As far as adapting to the car I think there are very few, the great ones that can do that. Since I've followed F1 since 2005, I think that Max, Lewis, Fernando, and Michael were the only guys who I could say fit into that mold. As far as drivers not complaining......really? I hear George and Lewis complaining a lot about the car. I heard Toto apologize to Lewis about the car after several races.
@ except the car could ride kerbs. Just overblown nonsense. Singapore it was fine. Baku it was fine. Canada it was fine. Qatar it was fine. Maybe it was not as compliant over kerbs like Ferrari or McLaren but way better than every other car. Most of Redbulls problems are they can’t setup their car properly after Newey left.
I think there's an argument for McLaren going all out for both championships in 2025. McLaren have an advantage in aerodynamics and ground effect cars, but 2026 will be much more about engine power. There's reason to believe that will suit the Mercedes engine, so McLaren should still be close to the front, but Mercedes may be looking at it as their chance to bounce back.
And McLaren's win as a "customer", just smacks FOM's statement about how much value Andretti would bring as a "customer" team in terms of fightings for wins. Look at how things have changed.
But no, The Race, McLaren isn't a "semi-works team", it is a customer. It's a customer. Being listened to more or less doesn't change that it ultimately have no say in how their data is usee or how the engine is developed.
They (McLaren) hired him back in 2013 and fired him after a single season. Maybe Red Bull should have looked more into why that was? Ferrari dropped him from their driver academy too. McLaren dropped him, Ferrari dropped him, we'll sign him as our team driver... Fools.
McLaren and Ferrari battling for the top brings a tear to my eye. It's time for the real OGs to return. Enough of these energy drink carton cutout teams.
really random to mention the dutch gp, but its a pretty good one to go to, its well managed and the fanzone is great. i went as a mclaren fan and it was incredible!
I thought the purchase of the team by the prince of Bahrain money might have had something to do with their success. I know there's a cost cap, but the timing is interesting.
Only took 11 years and Red Bull basically giving away the Championship by keeping Checo in order to have more tunnel time for next year 😂😂 Nice job McLaren
@Hungary_0987 He may come off as a hater. But hes right. Perez scored 290 points less than Max. Hes unbelievably terrible. A decent 2nd driver in that Redbull that scores 100 points less than Max over a season would be better. They wouldve wrapped up constructors with 3 races to go. Do the math.
@@khalidmartie5854 Two other drivers with solid midfield bodies of work have had their shit wrecked by Red Bulls. The disconnect between Perez's pre-Red Bull form and even his _early_ form with Red Bull versus what's happening now is too huge to be explained by "he sux lol". Red Bull should've swapped Lawson in to find out, but with even Max openly complaining about the car, it's a toss-up as to whether a fresh-faced a could really make much more of the situation.
I think THE RACE owes Alpine an apology. They made a big deal about forfeiting their works status being a sign that they aren't serious. Now here's a video about how that doesn't matter much with a good supplier relationship. I still think Alpine is a joke but the power train switch doesn't look so bad on them anymore
The constructors title could be as important to the new unwashed masses if F1 / FOM promoted it at all.... Personally as a fan of a TEAM .. I am super stoked McLaren won after 26 freekin years. Esp in a year where the 1st 5 races made it look like we were looking at a RB runaway.... What a great season!
Zak inherited a lot of rot from Ron when he took over . Ron for as much as as he was as part of the teams title successes from the mid 80s to 2008 . Ron left the team in a very bad financial state and Zak has had to rebuild the business from the ground up . The loss of Vodafone at the end of 2013 left a huge financial black whole . More the point many of the teams technical facilities at the MTC had not been updated for years when Zak arrived.
Can’t wait for them to deal with having only 75% of CFD and Wind Tunnel time as a result of winning the Constructors. Red Bull’s the ONLY team to ever deal with it and I don’t see McLaren repeating … a drop coming?
It will be 70% from Jan. A lot of the 2025 design work will have already been done this year when McLaren first had 80% then I think 75% as it gets adjusted every 6 months. Theyll already have the launch spec being built and upgrades in the works so really next year its a question of how much time goes to 25 and how much to 26.
Wind tunnel time doesn't mean much if the correlation is shit. If that was the case backmarker teams would be winning the championship the following year. Red Bull uses an old as fuck wind tunnel that was used during the Cold War (I'm not sure if they are going to use a new for next season), while McLaren has a state of the art modern Wind Tunnel which going by this year each upgrade package boosting performance means that wind tunnel software has very accurate correlation, which doesn't really matter if they get less or more wind tunnel time. Also what's the point of having a lot of wind tunnel time if all your best engineers moved on to other teams?
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Great. Another baked-in ad. Oh well, another channel to stop watching.
This is so pathetic. Fine, you need ads, that’s ok. But that’s what the ad-breaks are for on UA-cam! This is just ridiculous.
They didn’t just “win as a customer team”… they wiped the floor with the supplier’s own works team.
so what just like redbull in the past lol
McLaren (kind of not the F1 team, sure) still makes bunch of the standard electronics for the whole grid so they are also kind of a works tesm. 😅
@@samudrasyarif6828when Renault were a midfield team?
@@rkan2McLaren Applied supplies the standard electrical control units for all of F1 but they haven't been a part of McLaren group since 2021.
@@samudrasyarif6828 No not like. Not even close.
Zak can take a huge amount of credit - because of what he has done away from the track. Getting (lots) of sponsorship money, and spending wisely on the foundations needed for speed - wind tunnel, CFD, kit to help build a better car. And he knows how to build a better team - hire good people and trust them and get out of their way.
Really looks to me like he deliberately plays the part of the host and extrovert to take attention off the more introverted Stella, so Stella can focus on the need for speed!
At this point McLaren has a “yes” amount of sponsors on the cars lmao
Wonder if they will be Mastercard McLaren next season
Yeah I remember when the McLarens looked naked with basically no major sponsors on their car.
Nature abhors a vacuum; Zak abhors a blank space ...
@@OscarTahr he abhors exercise
@@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1most likely, similar to Oracle and red bull
Piastri completed every single lap of the 2024 season, all 1,444 of them, and he becomes just the fourth driver ever to do so.
In his second season
That consistency is a fantastic tell of whats to come from him. Outstanding.
Anyone know how many laps the other 3 drivers completed in their respective seasons?
He was 6 seconds away from being lapped by Lando and losing that but I'm glad he got that impressive stat in the end.
And the first non-champion to do so
Wasnt that due to the contact with Max tho? @@soundscape26
Took a lot longer than 15 years since they were disqualified from the 2007 constructors championship. Its been 26 years since winning the constructors in 1998 with Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard
They didn't even win it that year without the disqualification, they lost by a point due to losing their team points from the Hungary race
Think he was talking about Hamilton's 2008 drivers championship win, as that was the last time they won a title of any kind
They were talking titles in general. The last title they won was in 2008 with Lewis Hamilton getting his first driver's title 16 years ago (so they haven't won a title in 15 years).
@@MrSniperfox29nah they still would have won the championship without the Hungary points, not like it mattered anyway
@@inahole2678 Actually no, without the Hungary points they finished on 203 and Ferrari had 204
McLaren's third driver is Checo. Three cheers for Checo.
Ferraris third driver is Verstappen
@@rxjvirrKeeping one eye on the future perhaps.
Hip hip HOORAY!
🧂
@@rxjvirrI can see that happening tbh, maybe when Lewis retires from F1, Max might get bored of Red Bull and jump ship to Ferrari
Also proved FOM wrong who originally blocked Andretti on the basis "customer teams could not be competitive"
Eh, that's a misrepresentation.
@@arglebargle5531Please give us the correct presentation then??
@@arglebargle5531how.
@@tengille thats not even true, Andretti was gonna be a works team with GM but they were denied still
@@Gamurboi They wouldn't have been a works team to begin with. They were going to start with a Renault engine deal which yeah how should we expect you to be competitive when you have by far the worst engine in the sport?
Had my doubts about Zak era McLaren but they’ve done a great job to turn it around
Yeah it just took forever. I’m surprised zak was able to stick around long enough to get it better. For years they kept saying it is going to improve and it just never did
Fat brown is not responsible for their success
@@AlanpittsS2b It took no time at all. He came onboard in 2016 and was in charge by 2018. At that point, they were backmarkers. To get the team back to challenging for wins and podium in two to four years was amazing enough, but to go from 9th to 1st in 6 or 8 years is remarkable.
Changing an organization of that size and scale doesn't happen in a few weeks. Anyone who's ever worked in a large enterprise would know that
At least you can admit it instead of pretending to have had no doubts about Zac like 90% of this comment section is doing. It's pathetic how many "fans" of this sport seem to switch their tune when someone starts winning
@@Catbus-Driver tale as old as time
Let's send a "Thank you!" to Fernando for bringing Stella to the team.
I couldn't be happier for McLaren. It was just 9 years ago that they were last of the points scoring teams in 2015, and after much pain, embarrassment and restructuring, it has finally gained its first Constructors Championship title since 1998, 26 long years of waiting, over
1998 was the first year I watched F1, at the tender age of 6. It's been a long 26 years.
@Arrzarrina that's only 2 years less than the amount of time I've followed the sport XD the first Grand Prix I tuned in to watch was Japan 1996, when Damon Hill scored his 8th win of the year and his only world title
I've been supporting McLaren since Senna and Prost. These young people who support drivers like Max don't understand what a constructors championships mean to people like me. I've supported McLaren through the ups and downs and was concerned we might fade away like Williams did. I'm glad I chose McLaren all those years ago because we'll always come back, and the losses just make victory feel so much better. 😊
Aye. So many people only care about the WDC, but a lot of us who have been following longer than any individual driver's career have teams and the WCC to follow.
The craziest thing is that for the last 3 years it really looked like only Mercades and Ferrari were well placed to take the fight to Red Bull with McLaren down in the midfield pack. So they have basically caught up to and then leapfrogged the three teams that have been dominant in the ground effect era in the space of one season.
Me personally, If I were McLaren, I would go all out on the 2025 season, as most teams are gonna want to focus their attention on the 2026 regulations. But at the same time, they're gonna want to fight for the title, as it is their best chance. So McLaren I think is a big driver for how other teams are gonna react for their development resources for 2026, as McLaren are the world champions, and if they maintain their winning form and improve upon an already rocketship car, then for sure they can seal the driver's and constructors championships next season.
If you told me after bahrain in 2023 Mclaren would have won the constructors after a season where they plateau and looked like they had no clue what they wanted. I would've laughed flat on my ass. 2013-22 we didn't even look like we could win races on pure pace. It is extraordinary how Mclaren have managed to acheive this and go into 2025 as the form team with ferrari
Return of the late 90s/early 2000s with Schumacher and Mika/Kimi.
Or 1990 with Senna/Prost....🤤🤤🤤🤤
The Merc engine seems to be becoming the DFV of the Hybrid era. The Go-To Engine for customers. Rules obviously limit how many customers they can have but overall they seem to be the first choice customer engine supplier.
i think it might be down to the relationship they offer to the customers. Obviously we don't really know how Ferrari or Honda operate with their customers but from the sounds of it having the customers be a part of the design process, having their thoughts taken on board, if Mercedes are the only team that do that then it would explain why so many want to work with them.
it has been for a decade by now.
While Brown and Norris have been there throughout this unlikely Mclaren ascent back to the top of F1, But lets also praise Piastri, but also Andrea Stella (Team Principal), Richard Marton (Racing Director) and Will Joseph and Jai Hindley (Norris & Piastri Race Engineers) for playing their part in getting Mclaren their record equalling 13th Constructors Championship
I think you mean 9th constructors championship
And Rob Marshall. Magnificent man
McLaren have won 9 Constructors' and 10 drivers' World Championships. I also think that the rece engineer of Oscar is Tom Stallard.
What about Joseph the groundskeeper? Or Betty the tea lady?
Isn't Tom Stallard Piastri's race engineer??
I remember being hooked on the Hakkinen years, the Lewis/Fernando years, and I remember how thrilled I was to hear the name "McLaren Honda" - and the disappointment that followed.
And then McLaren became a B-class team, trudging the midfield - a shadow of it's former self.
I'm so happy their back at the front again.
Papaya is not the colour I'm used to when thinking of winning McLaren, but hey, it's still great to see!
This is more worth to see than just a drivers championship. Constructors can always find a good driver, drivers can’t always find a good constructor 😊
Amen brother
Can’t believe how far they’ve come, been a McLaren fan since the Perez days 💀
Personally I went to my local Mercedes dealership to see Mika Häkkinen and his McLaren in 1999 with my dad 🥰 I was 3 years old!
In Kajaani, Finland lol :)
At some point they were basically bankrupt if I’m not mistaken
@@tshepososnot quite but they had to mortage / sell + lease back the MTC and also secure fresh investment. Some of that stemmed from the road car division not doing great but all that has changed now thankfully.
Thank Perez for basically handing them the constructors this year, however good or bad that may be 😂🤣
McLaren might as well be a works team, they manage to make better use of the engine than the actual works team during this Ground Effects era. 🤣🤣 Also reliability was insane, too. Zero DNFs from both drivers, no engine problem throughout the entire season. Hell, Piastri managed to complete every single lap this season.
I think part of it is the engine development freeze meaning merc can't fine tune their engine constantly to fit their car better
I started watching F1 during Häkkinen's time at McLaren and going to season finale with McLaren and Ferrari fighting for a championship felt like being back to the good old times. But the good old times are happening now.
The past decade has definitely been rough time to be a McLaren fan and there were times when it seemed like McLaren were forever going to be stuck in the midfield, or worse, with their glory days far behind them. Seeing the team's resurgence has been such a joy to watch. Congratulations to everyone in the team for making it happen and to F1 for the rules that leveled up the playing field between works teams and customers as well. Healthier competition between the teams makes F1 better and this year proved it.
McLaren's main problem for next year (and probably 26) are their two drivers. That's a rivalry ready to blow up. They'll have a barrier separating the garage by the summer break if they don't sort that out.
for that piastri needs to beat norris on pace. norris has the legs on him at the moment
@ …yes? Of course? And?
Time to thank Mercedes for letting that happen. Its also their title win. And also thanks to the FIA to changing the rules so that costumers get the same engine as the works team. Overall its a win for everyone because we as fans got an amazing season with not one but two title fights.
"Costumers" are people who wear costumes. I think you meant "customers."
I'm glad someone else brought this up. They changed the rules to standardise PU connections. There is no "proven wrong", the field of play has changed.
@@rars0nwho cares
@@andrewmayer2443everyone with eyes
@@rars0n haha,, my bad ;)
How curious that, exactly 50 years after McLaren won its first drivers title with Emerson Fittipaldi in 1974, led by an American, Teddy Mayer, it took the constructors title in 2024 also led by an American, Zak Brown.
Great pick up!
The drivers championship is Vanity, the constructors championship is Sanity👏👏👏
After the scandal in 07/08 its was a tough time to be a McLaren fan. Excited that the team is back on top 😁
A quick scroll through Wikipedia suggests that this is only the second time in history that a customer team has beaten its engine supplier’s works team to win the Constructor’s Championship. The other time was Red Bull beating a declining Renault in 2010 before they sold to Lotus in 2011.
People are in here acting like checo gifted them the championship when choosing the right driver IS PART OF BEING A GOOD CONSTRUCTOR. Not to mention their car is great.
Checo was hired by McLaren in 2013 to replace the departing Hamilton. McLaren dropped Checo after a single season for he was no match for Button, a driver 10 years older than him. Too many people rationalized that it was McLaren's fault they didn't get Perez to perform. I believed he simply didn't have the potential to be anything but average and mid-field. I was astounded when Red Bull signed him but I believe his fantastic sponsorship deal and Red Bull commercial rights in South America swayed their mind. Now? Well, doesn't surprise me one bit.
What McLaren has done is very impressive. It also gives me hope that with the right pieces in place that Williams can regain its former glory. It’s been painful to watch both McLaren and Williams’ fall from grace. I’d like as many teams to be at the top as possible, especially those with storied names.
Williams is interesting to look forward to for a few reasons. This is my opinion. Feel free to disagree.
1. Williams have been like the Mercedes' feeder team. Not only they supply engines for Williams, Mercedes' key personnel are also involved with James Vowles being team principal and Toto as a co-owner.
2. Their ex-driver, George Russell made a step up after spending few years in Williams being closely monitored by Mercedes.
3. Sainz joining Leclerc will provide a solid driver line-up for the next few years.
4. Sainz's move to Williams also brought in key sopnsorship with Santander recently announced a new partnership with the team after splitting with Ferrari.
All in all, I hope Williams can have a resurgence as successful as McLaren while also being realistic with the process.
@@luqmanhakimi910 I'm looking forward to seeing if Carlos can help drive the team forward. I rate Carlos highly based on what he's done in F1 so far agaisnt his team mates. I hope he can find that last little bit of consistency since I think that the speed is there. 2025 is shaping up to be a very interesting year.
the problem with Williams is that they are operationally a much smaller team than McLaren and they take almost all the essential parts from Mercedes. Unless they change that or make an insane aero platform it would be difficult to imagine them being any more than a podium contender or occasional race winner
When Zak Brown became Mclaren CEO in 2018 after those two ninth place seasons with Honda (2016 & 2017)
he set these ambitions
Sign a driver who could win races
get Mclaren back on a Podium in a Grand Prix
get Mclaren back to the Top 3 in the Constructors Championship
get Mclaren back to winning a Grand Prix
and win either a Drivers/Constructors Championship within 10 years
the results
Sign a driver who could win races (Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri)
get Mclaren back on a Podium in a Grand Prix (2020 Austrian Grand Prix, Norris 3rd)
get Mclaren back to the Top 3 in the Constructors Championship (2020, 3rd)
get Mclaren back to winning a Grand Prix (2024 Miami Grand Prix won by Norris, Ending a 235 Race win Drought, Hamilton, Austin 2012)
and win either a Drivers/Constructors Championship within 10 years (2024 Constructors Championship, ending a 16 Year title Drought, 2008)
Sainz actually got the first podium for McLaren in the Zak Brown era at Brazil 2019
And Danny Ric ended the winning drought since Button at Brazil 2012 at Italy 2021
They won in Monza 2021, gap from Brazil 2012.
Mclaren engineers know what they're doing.
The fact that the Dutch GP has to be an ad proves there's something up with this GP
Yolo, I would go all in 2025.
The opposite side of this is that Flavio is proven correct by switching to a Mercedes customer.
There is a difference between being able to produce a good engine and not wanting to give the team the money to produce a good engine. There is a reason why people are fleeing Alpine. Renault was the first team that I cheered for and it sucks to see them go downhill. The only thing they could do to support the team less is to withdraw from F1 entirely.
I‘ll eat my hat - never thought a customer team could win a constructor champion
the constructors title is under rate. driver is nothing without the people behind him
what if sainz stayed at mclaren...
He would probably have won the drivers championship
@@marius3734thinking about this Iv got to say yes
Sad to think of what he might have achieved. Now he’s stuck at williams…
@@marius3734 no he wouldnt. He lacks the overall pace, but I think he would still be much closer than Pando.
@@vojtas08jaremanot true. Carlos would have made similar mistakes
1st non redbull or Mercedes/Brawn championship since 2008, 16 years of dominance from just 2 teams finally at an end, hope 2025 starts as 2024 ends
I mustn't be part of the "Rest of the World" because I genuinely believe it is more impressive and indicative of a brilliant team to win the Constructors.
6:10, for the record this is called a "Partner" relationship where you pay a cheaper rate and get to influence the engine but not having the final say and best specification of parts
Having been a full time car manufacturer for over a decade now, I wonder if McLaren will ever design and build its own F1 engines. I always find it odd that a car manufacturer in F1 buys in its engines from a rival car company.
I mean, even its road cars have all historically used the same engine - one that descends from a preexisting Nissan design from the late 80's, at that. It's only with the Artura that McLaren has just now built its own engine.
The money needed to design, produce and test engines for the science fair on wheels that is F1 is magnitudes greater than for any other component, even combined.
@@mitchell-wallisforce7859 Afaik, they have been getting their engines from Riccardo PT which they own ever since the MP12C. Correct me if I'm wrong.
@@_fiftyseven_ It was the case at the start, but I don't know near enough to say whether it remains so with the V8, let alone the V6.
I dont think Ron Dennis was wrong.. he was right. 10 years is a very long time to prove anything
But he said they would NEVER win with a customer engine so he was wrong.
@TheSt1092 That was also before the rules changes requiring customers to get the same engines. Customer engines used to always be down on power.
He was right at time. There was no way to predict the rule changes that ended up leveling the playing field between customers and works teams after works teams had been enjoying preferential treatment for decades. And while the Honda experiment failed, at least it forced the team to face its own shortcomings and improve. It was a rough journey, but if McLaren had just settled down to being a Mercedes engine customer from the get go, I doubt they would be world champions today.
Realistically McLaren would’ve won sooner had they stuck with Honda.
@@paperplane-db8qf IMO probably not. The reason why Honda struggled with McLaren was because Honda had to build the engine around the McLaren car. For Red Bull, it was the other way around, Honda had much more freedom to design their engines
This video was an amazing insight into why being a customer engine isn’t as all bad as it seems. Thank you
140 million dollars ain’t no joke when it comes to prizes money
You could buy almost a 6 pack of beer for that in Norway!!
@@piuthemagicman depend on which beer not a big fan of Norsk Øl or øl in general 🤣🤣🤣🤣
"ain't" ISN'T a word
The engine freeze is also crucial to customers being able to fight as works teams can’t develop the engine according to chassis anymore
Zak and Andrea deserve a lot of credit for this one they really turned it around for mclaren. I never thought mclaren would be constructors champions again.
If I'm not mistaken Eric Bouiller was also the same person who rewarded workers at the McLaren factory a Freddo chocolate for getting a key upgrade package out in 2018 which led to those same factory workers going on strike, he was also the same person who said the French Grand Prix would continue past 2022...
It is interesting in the discussion of how the "customer" teams receiving essentially the same engine how this somewhat parallels the FIAs stance in the WEC regarding the Hyper Cars there. In WEC the customer teams receive the same exact cars, engines and upgrades as the "works" manufacturer teams. This was unlike it was years and decades ago where essentially the "customer teams" receive second hand cars in some cases.
In reality, the drivers' championship means absolutely nothing, as it's 99% the cars' ability to take straight line speed in and out of corners that wins the championship. It's crazy to me that it's the constructors that is the secondary title in F1.
Mclaren is the real Mercedes team.
You missed one key point on why McLaren became the title winner: reliability. And not because the Mercedes engine is reliable, but because McLaren learned from their mistakes with mounting them and using them. One thing that plagued McLaren since the Ron Dennis days was engine reliability. Hakkinen, Raikkonen and Hamilton all lost titles because the McLaren had the tendency to just go up in smoke out of the blue.
Everyone blamed Honda for being crap. But McLaren had their fair share of blame on that blunder. Of course they blamed Honda, just like they blamed Mercedes during 2000-2013 for the lost titles. (Even with Mercedes proving with their works team that the engine was reliable, by having 80% less problems than McLaren, they still insisted it's the engine). It was never them, always the engine supplier.
Then Honda started working with RB, in a couple of years they became a reliable engine. Another couple of years and they were fighting for the titles and after the rules changes, even dominating. They became the better engine.
Meanwhile McLaren changed to Renault and were burning engine covers and having all kind of overheating issues. It finally sink in that maybe it wasn't just the engine at fault, since during those years, Renault works teams wasn't having as many problems as McLaren.
All of that made the mentality change, like you guys said, the excuses mentality had to go, McLaren improved in reliability and here they are, Constructor's Champions.
Yeah, after all the "we have the best chassis but a subpar engine" comments, switch to Renault engines and still being nowhere was a wake up call for McLaren that maybe things on the Woking side weren't perfect either. The team needed to become aware of their own shortcomings to fix them, and thankfully that's what they've done the past few years.
Eh that's a bit much. McLaren had fine reliability from '07-'14 apart from 2012. Far better than Red Bull.
And they had a very similar amount of technical issues as Renault when they had their engines. And don't forget all the issues Red Bull had with those engines before they switched. Sure they certainly had a lot of internal issues that they got rid of in the past couple of years and they share some blame during McHonda but let's not pretend those engines weren't absolutely tragic on both performance and reliability on their own.
RELIABLE VEHICLES ❌ RELIABLE F1 CAR ✅
I laughed, but it is a shame they can't make their road cars to the same (or near) level as the racecars.
McLaren, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It's lucky they aren't sending glory to Ferrari in F1 like they have been doing for their road cars.
It's been long years but finally McLaren are champions after many years and the first team to do so, excluding Red Bull and Mercedes (known as Brawn GP in 2009)!!!
I wonder what Norbert Haug is doing these days...and what he thinks of this.
Can you guys make a shirt that reads "to finish first. First you must be Finnish"?
It can only help Mercedes to have a 2nd works team (in all but name) in terms of feedback and advice as well. But still, a lot to be commended in making that customer relationship work & still win the teams championship, regardless of how many qualifiers can be made by detractors
Golden corner of the thumbnail made me think that THE RACE had won an award or something.
They deserve it. The entire team should get the men's butts discount, if you ask me.
Pretty sure the FIA legislated that all PUs had to have standardised connections i.e. plug and play. That wasn't the case at the start of 2014 so there is no "proven wrong". The rules were different then and have since been changed.
Pretty awesome when a customer team outperforms and beats the manufacturer team. Funny enough last time this happened it (Brawn) was also Mercedes powered.
funny how this video is seemingly sponsored by the dutch gp, when they're planning on wrapping it up by 2026
!! Congratulations to McLaren !!
It's Long Over-Due but Nicely Done to EVERYONE at McLaren's F1 Team !!!
On a slightly different note.....I've always said that each team should design, build and use their own engines rather than being able to use one from a rival team.....But I understand why they do it the way they do.
The constructors championship for me is a big deal.Drivers comes and go but teams are remembered forever.
When you have a window you maximize the hell out of it! No one is going to remember who was second.
They didn't achieve much as Perez was not contributing, if both divers would put points on table Maclaaren would stand no chance
Yes and no. RB had it in them to can Sergio and go with another driver. RB went down the wrong development path and made it very difficult for Sergio to get the most out of the car. McLaren did not make big mistakes while RB had 2 (driver and car development path). You may not agree with me, but let me say this..........Reubens was a very integral part in Ferrari's run of dominance. My understanding is that Michael could and would drive around issues but Reubens was extremely sensitive to the car and was able to make sure the team was heading down the right path.
In this case Sergio said, last year, the path RB was taking was the wrong one and it finally showed.
Last item, is the form of McLaren. I've been watching F1 since 2005 and have never seen a team come back as far as they have in a single season to unseat the points leaders. It really helps that this is the cost cap era, era of reduced testing, and ground effects. Even RB in 2009 couldn't close the gap to Brawn and they clearly had the best car from the summer break to the end of the season.
@@TeeRollssstop with the excuses for Perez. “Wrong development path” like in 2023 when the car was winning every race 😂 and Perez was still struggling.
If a car can with the championship it’s a driver job to adapt. The Redbull is a much better car than Mercedes and every other team and you don’t see other drivers yapping so much like Perez.
@@paperplane-db8qfis Perez as good a driver as Verstappen? I don't think you'll find anyone who thinks so.
Given that you've never driven the RB maybe you should stop yapping about what you think Perez should and shouldn't be able to adapt to.
@@paperplane-db8qf You don't believe RB went down the wrong path? The car couldn't even ride curbs in the start of the season. RB was the best car at the start of the year and at the end of the season at best it's 3rd, maybe even 4th.
Max won 9 races this year but 7 of those were within the first 10 races of the year, since then he is 2 for 14 in race wins. That does not indicate the best car on the grid. Max banked a ton of early points and held on (deservedly so) to win the WDC. Yes I agree that Sergio underperformed but the 2024 RB is not the all conquering car you make it out to be.
As far as adapting to the car I think there are very few, the great ones that can do that. Since I've followed F1 since 2005, I think that Max, Lewis, Fernando, and Michael were the only guys who I could say fit into that mold.
As far as drivers not complaining......really? I hear George and Lewis complaining a lot about the car. I heard Toto apologize to Lewis about the car after several races.
@ except the car could ride kerbs. Just overblown nonsense. Singapore it was fine. Baku it was fine. Canada it was fine. Qatar it was fine.
Maybe it was not as compliant over kerbs like Ferrari or McLaren but way better than every other car.
Most of Redbulls problems are they can’t setup their car properly after Newey left.
I think there's an argument for McLaren going all out for both championships in 2025. McLaren have an advantage in aerodynamics and ground effect cars, but 2026 will be much more about engine power. There's reason to believe that will suit the Mercedes engine, so McLaren should still be close to the front, but Mercedes may be looking at it as their chance to bounce back.
Gotta say, I cheer for RB and cheered more for Ferrari than McLaren, but this title is truly deserved. Well done Brown, I was right to believe in you.
And McLaren's win as a "customer", just smacks FOM's statement about how much value Andretti would bring as a "customer" team in terms of fightings for wins.
Look at how things have changed.
The coffee shops in Amsterdam are beautiful as well
Jenny didn’t even ask any questions she just didn’t like the taste and withdrew 😂
If Riccardo was in Piastri's seat he would have won the drivers this year or at least been the backstop for Lando to do so.
Nevermind Boullier, Ron Dennis said in 2014 that a customer team will not win the championship.
Williams going to be the next customer constructor's champ 💥 vamos Carlos
Mclaren former bosses was not wrong,but Perez helped Mclaren to win the WCC!!
But no, The Race, McLaren isn't a "semi-works team", it is a customer. It's a customer. Being listened to more or less doesn't change that it ultimately have no say in how their data is usee or how the engine is developed.
Victory thanks to PEREZ.
They (McLaren) hired him back in 2013 and fired him after a single season. Maybe Red Bull should have looked more into why that was? Ferrari dropped him from their driver academy too. McLaren dropped him, Ferrari dropped him, we'll sign him as our team driver... Fools.
McLaren and Ferrari battling for the top brings a tear to my eye. It's time for the real OGs to return. Enough of these energy drink carton cutout teams.
When you mean customer you mean a customer that is in F1. Redbull is customer of Honda.
really random to mention the dutch gp, but its a pretty good one to go to, its well managed and the fanzone is great. i went as a mclaren fan and it was incredible!
Cause race has a sponsor deal with dutch gp. They been mentioning zandvoort in nearly all their vids
@@wilsontruong3979 oh lmao
is it just me or zak looks like happy XD
I thought the purchase of the team by the prince of Bahrain money might have had something to do with their success. I know there's a cost cap, but the timing is interesting.
Crazy how it took an entire decade of change and development just for us to end up back in the status quo of the early 2010s lol 😂
Hope next year more team can fight more... And can't wait who will replace perez
I find the constructors championship more interesting than the drivers championship.
Andrea Stella is an underrated overachiever.
7:46 Incorrect, Haas ran the 2023 Ferrari engine in the VF-24.
Very happy for the team and they did a great job, but unfortunately the biggest factor for their title win is Perez.
Only took 11 years and Red Bull basically giving away the Championship by keeping Checo in order to have more tunnel time for next year 😂😂 Nice job McLaren
Cant you just be happy for the comeback? Redbull kept Perez, lost the WCC, bad on them. Their choice. Doesnt make it less impressive.
@Hungary_0987 Fair enough
here is an actual example of a hater.
@Hungary_0987
He may come off as a hater.
But hes right. Perez scored 290 points less than Max.
Hes unbelievably terrible.
A decent 2nd driver in that Redbull that scores 100 points less than Max over a season would be better.
They wouldve wrapped up constructors with 3 races to go.
Do the math.
@@khalidmartie5854 Two other drivers with solid midfield bodies of work have had their shit wrecked by Red Bulls. The disconnect between Perez's pre-Red Bull form and even his _early_ form with Red Bull versus what's happening now is too huge to be explained by "he sux lol".
Red Bull should've swapped Lawson in to find out, but with even Max openly complaining about the car, it's a toss-up as to whether a fresh-faced a could really make much more of the situation.
I think THE RACE owes Alpine an apology. They made a big deal about forfeiting their works status being a sign that they aren't serious. Now here's a video about how that doesn't matter much with a good supplier relationship. I still think Alpine is a joke but the power train switch doesn't look so bad on them anymore
When you're owned by a major carmaker buying someone else's equipment *is* a gigantic downgrade
A big Perez statue is being built at the McLaren HQ as we speak.
This is huge. But wouldn't be possible if Red Bull had two drivers.
The constructors title could be as important to the new unwashed masses if F1 / FOM promoted it at all.... Personally as a fan of a TEAM .. I am super stoked McLaren won after 26 freekin years. Esp in a year where the 1st 5 races made it look like we were looking at a RB runaway....
What a great season!
proved Éric Boullier wrong in 2024 about something he said about 2018. good job.
McLaren really showed that non factory team can win
This Eric guy probably meant you can't win as a customer team if you've got a Renault engine..
It is the MONEY that can win with everything you have to do it. The more you canbspend on everything, the chances of getting better will be there.
2013 Ron made these comments originally 😂 it's only taken till 2024 to be proven wrong 😂
No matter how long it took, it was still proven wrong 😎 Considering they were backmarkers a few years ago, a huge job from McLaren!
Zak inherited a lot of rot from Ron when he took over . Ron for as much as as he was as part of the teams title successes from the mid 80s to 2008 . Ron left the team in a very bad financial state and Zak has had to rebuild the business from the ground up . The loss of Vodafone at the end of 2013 left a huge financial black whole . More the point many of the teams technical facilities at the MTC had not been updated for years when Zak arrived.
The way things were in 2013 he was dead right
I just wish Mercedes next year with Antonelli to be champion again and along Bottas as best Reserve Driver
Let's be real.. the reason why they won the WCC is because of Perez
Lol, once again "analysts" with no mention of sliding scale on aero testing.. it really is the elephant in the room
Can’t wait for them to deal with having only 75% of CFD and Wind Tunnel time as a result of winning the Constructors. Red Bull’s the ONLY team to ever deal with it and I don’t see McLaren repeating … a drop coming?
It will be 70% from Jan. A lot of the 2025 design work will have already been done this year when McLaren first had 80% then I think 75% as it gets adjusted every 6 months. Theyll already have the launch spec being built and upgrades in the works so really next year its a question of how much time goes to 25 and how much to 26.
Don't forget red bull wind tunnel is old. While McLaren is using a state of the art ones. That might make a difference too.
Wind tunnel time doesn't mean much if the correlation is shit. If that was the case backmarker teams would be winning the championship the following year. Red Bull uses an old as fuck wind tunnel that was used during the Cold War (I'm not sure if they are going to use a new for next season), while McLaren has a state of the art modern Wind Tunnel which going by this year each upgrade package boosting performance means that wind tunnel software has very accurate correlation, which doesn't really matter if they get less or more wind tunnel time.
Also what's the point of having a lot of wind tunnel time if all your best engineers moved on to other teams?
It may effect 2026, but look what Red Bull did with lesser facilities than McLaren. It took 2+ years for the ATR to catch up with them.
Redbull have 10% less CFD as well due 2021 breaking of regulations