Why McLaren won’t let Piastri and Norris «do whatever they want» in title fight
Mercedes’ Toto Wolff has suggested McLaren should «let it roll» as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri fight for the drivers’ title, but team principal Andrea Stella has set out the difference between equal opportunities and unregulated freedom. McLaren delivered its second front row lockout in three race weekends in the Netherlands, with Piastri getting the […]
McLaren will keep driver strategy options open after Hungary F1 split
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have given their blessing for split strategies to continue at the team as they battle for the 2025 Formula 1 title, but both feel Hungary was something of an outlier. Norris was running third during the Hungarian Grand Prix and took the plunge to switch to a one-stop strategy […]
No regrets» over China, Canada F1 races but could have been «smarter
Lando Norris has insisted he has no regrets when reflecting on the opening 14 races of his 2025 Formula 1 title campaign, though has picked out moments in China and Canada where he could have been «a little bit smarter». Of the two, his Canada clash with team-mate Oscar Piastri is the more obvious one; Norris […]
McLaren banks Mastercard as 2026 F1 title partner
McLaren partner Mastercard is stepping up to become the papaya squad’s official naming partner from the 2026 F1 season onwards. From next year, McLaren will be branded as McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team, signifying a step up in the payment provider’s commitment to the world champions. McLaren and Mastercard had only signed a multi-year deal […]
Piastri responds to Prost’s «very cool» F1 comparison after Goodwood comments
At Goodwood’s Festival of Speed, Alain Prost spoke of his admiration for Formula 1 championship leader Oscar Piastri — and the Australian says it was «very cool» for a four-time champion to be so effusive in his praise. Prost and Piastri had previously worked together at Alpine, where the Frenchman was an advisor and non-executive […]
The ‘genuine struggles’ behind McLaren’s 2025 F1 early-season qualifying fears
While McLaren’s baseline form over the early part of the 2025 Formula 1 season had been strong, any weaknesses that emerged in the year’s nascent stages appear to have been ironed out with development. The team has secured 1-2 finishes in each of the last four races, putting it 299 points clear of Ferrari in […]
The lessons Piastri learned from his junior titles for his F1 2025 championship fight
Competing for a Formula 1 championship «feels similar» to fighting for those in the junior categories, says Oscar Piastri, who notes that his intra-team battle with McLaren stablemate Lando Norris is the key differentiating factor. Piastri won the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup, 2020 Formula 3, and 2021 Formula 2 titles consecutively before spending 2022 on the […]
How Stella turned McLaren into F1’s dominant force
From the outside, Andrea Stella’s tenure as a McLaren team boss has looked pretty straightforward. After taking over from Andreas Seidl ahead of the 2023 season, the Italian oversaw a technical restructuring that turned the team into a regular podium finisher over the second half of a Red Bull-dominated campaign, and then the next major […]
Why McLaren believes some of its MCL39’s qualities can survive F1 2026 shake-up
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella thinks some of the philosophies that made his 2025 F1 car so successful can be carried over to 2026’s all-new regulations. In 2026 F1 is moving away from a heavy reliance on ground effect, reverting to cars with a flat underfloor and reduced downforce levels, while using active aerodynamics on […]