Its success can be traced back to a game-changing upgrade at the Miami GP, which saw the MCL38 fitted with a new front wing, front suspension and front brake duct, bodywork, floor, rear suspension and rear brake ducts. The benefits were felt immediately, as Norris took advantage of a well-timed safety car to take a career-first victory.
Norris was again in the hunt for victory at the following round in Imola, and further race-winning performances from the team in Hungary, Zandvoort, Azerbaijan, Singapore and Abu Dhabi soon saw McLaren turn into the favourites for the constructors’ title.
For a time, Norris looked to be in contention for a drivers’ title too but critical errors as well as questionable decisions from the pitwall meant he was ultimately unable to best Verstappen, who, despite his Red Bull’s relative underperformance, was able to secure his fourth consecutive world championship with three rounds to spare.
Had the Woking outfit been a threat from the offset in Bahrain, Norris likely would have posed a much larger threat to F1’s dominant Dutchman.
2025: Title contention?
McLaren will arguably head into 2025 as title favourites. The team’s leap in year-on-year performance since 2022 has seen it gradually climb higher up the grid, and now as F1’s defending constructors’ champions, the Woking outfit could be the team to beat throughout 2025.
But with as many as four teams possibly in contention for both world titles, the key to success could all be in the start.
In 2023 and 2024, McLaren off to relatively slow starts and had to introduce important updates across the season in order to catch up. Should the Woking outfits latest F1 creation be quick from the get go, it could make defending its constructors’ crown and competing for a drivers’ title relatively simple.
“Every race weekend, you watch Formula 1’s best driver pairing, Lando and Oscar, get behind the wheel of the MCL38 and put in a shift for this team,” said McLaren team boss Zak Brown.
“More often than not this year, that’s been at the front of the field, with six grand prix wins, 21 podiums, and eight pole positions, including a run of 14 consecutive podiums, the second-longest streak in our history.
“Our drivers have done us proud. Lando pushed Max hard in the drivers’ championship and is the first driver to finish second for us since Jenson [Button] in 2011. And in only his second season, Oscar has become the first McLaren driver to finish as high as fourth for us since Lewis [Hamilton] in 2012.
“On and off track, both made huge strides this year, showing they’ve got what it takes to challenge for the championship.”
McLaren 2025 F1 driver line-up
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| Lando Norris | Oscar Piastri |
- Lando Norris signed a multi-year extension with McLaren in January 2024
- Oscar Piastri penned extension midway through 2023 campaign, keeping him at McLaren until 2025
- Pato O’Ward signed as reserve driver for 2025
Key personnel
CEO: Zak Brown
Can Zak Brown lead McLaren back to the top of F1?
DPPI
Motor sport marketing mogul Zak Brown took over McLaren at the end of 2016, and has helped initiate a sea-change in both its F1 performance and overall racing activities.
The team went from almost propping up the grid in 2017 to finishing third in 2020 in what was a remarkable turnaround.
“I would say that the reason why we’re having success today is getting the right people in place: Andreas Seidl [team principal], James Key [technical director], Andrea Stella [racing director and Piers [Thynne, operations director] have done an awesome job and that’s just on the racing side,” Brown told Motor Sport’s ‘My big break’ podcast last year.
As well as expanding the team’s motor sport participation to include IndyCar, Formula E and Extreme E, Brown has managed to draw in sponsors such as British American Tobacco, Google and NEOM to the Woking squad.
The list of names attached to McLaren has come partly through the team remaking its image into one of the most engaging outfits on the grid, partly focused around Norris and its social media output.
Team principal: Andrea Stella
The new McLaren team boss has his sights set on the front of the grid
Previously a race engineer for Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso at Ferrari, Andrea Stella has been McLaren’s executive director of racing since 2019, having initially joined in 2015.
The Italian’s appointment has proven to be prosperous, with the team finding consistent improvement after the departure of Andreas Seidl.
“His move into this role is a great example of the strength in depth we have in our team,” said Brown.
Technical director: James Key
Having spent several years at what is now Aston Martin, James Key became of the youngest ever technical directors of an F1 team when he took charge during its Midland era.
Key stayed at the team as it then transitioned to Spyker and again to Force India.
After holding the same post at both Sauber and Toro Rosso, Key took over technical matters at McLaren in 2018, helping – along with Brown and Seidl – to shift the team back to the sharper end of the grid.