2025

After McLaren emerged as Formula One's benchmark team during the closing stages of 2024, they entered 2025 as favourites for both championships. With Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri driving the fastest car on the grid, attention quickly turned to whether McLaren could manage two genuine title contenders while Max Verstappen sought to defend his crown in a Red Bull that had clearly fallen behind.

The opening races suggested Piastri might emerge as McLaren's leading contender, but as the season developed the balance shifted. A costly collision between the McLaren team-mates in Canada exposed the challenges of allowing both drivers to race freely, while Norris gradually rediscovered the consistency that had made him a championship favourite. Dominant victories in Mexico and Brazil firmly re-established him as McLaren's best hope, despite Verstappen charging from the pit lane to finish third in São Paulo.

Even as McLaren controlled the Constructors' Championship, Verstappen refused to surrender the Drivers' title. Having once trailed by more than one hundred points, he mounted an extraordinary comeback, winning six of the final nine Grands Prix and ultimately finishing the season with more victories than any other driver. What had once appeared to be a comfortable McLaren procession became one of the closest championship battles in recent memory.

Norris ultimately secured his maiden World Championship by just two points, delivering McLaren's first Drivers' title in nearly two decades. Yet 2025 will be remembered just as much for Verstappen's relentless pursuit as for McLaren's success, serving as a reminder that even the fastest car cannot guarantee a straightforward route to a championship.