McLaren are running away with both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships at the summer break and letting their drivers race each other freely, but what would it take for them to scrap their ethos of no team orders?
Oscar Piastri currently holds a slender nine-point advantage over McLaren teammate Lando Norris, with it impossible to call, at this moment in time, who will emerge as a brand new F1 world champion at the end of the season.
Damon Hill backed Norris in pre-season, believing the British driver just had that edge over the Australian when it came to race pace. However, he did note that he expected a very close fight between the two drivers.
In the heat of the title fight, the McLaren pair look to have kept things civil, but David Coulthard has seen signs from within McLaren that suggest the formalities will be nowhere to be seen once the summer break has concluded and they battle it out over the remaining 10 races.
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McLaren would only enforce team orders if F1 rivals showed genuine signs of being faster
Speaking to ran.de, former F1 driver Christian Danner theorised on what it would take for McLaren to scrap their ideology of no team orders and force their leading duo of Norris and Piastri into abiding by them.
“I think the team has a very clear stance,” Danner began. “The main thing is that a McLaren driver becomes world champion. Who exactly it is in the end doesn’t really matter.
“The constructors’ championship is virtually secured, and as long as no one from outside applies serious pressure. Currently, Red Bull and Verstappen are too weak for that; they’ll let the two race freely.
Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
“They’ll only intervene if the overarching goals are threatened. If, for some reason, Verstappen starts winning again, the approach could change.”
Then asked if McLaren are ‘mature’ enough to be able to make those decisions, Danner replied, “Absolutely. McLaren may have a great history, but every team is ultimately made up of different people. They had to relearn how to win. They’ve internalised that by now.”
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Is it possible for Max Verstappen to put up a title fight against McLaren in 2025?
Verstappen is just under 100 points shy of the leading McLarens in the drivers’ championship. Things would have to go seriously wrong for the Woking-based outfit and extraordinarily right for Red Bull for the Dutchman to stand a chance.
McLaren are the only customer team not to be affected by issues from within Mercedes’ power unit. Some serious defects in the engine could be the only possibility for Verstappen to be in contention.
Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 284 2 275 3 187 4 172
James Hinchcliffe studied Verstappen’s temper after his clash with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix. The former IndyCar star noted that if the Dutchman was able to work his way into a possible fifth consecutive title, his F1 rivals could use it against him to force the 27-year-old into a series of mistakes.
With a dominant lead in the constructors’ championship as well, it seems extremely unlikely that Red Bull could compete with them in that title fight either. The Austrian drinks company are currently 365 points away from the leading team, needing to be perfect from here on out to be within a chance.