Only a few months have passed since McLaren won the 2024 F1 Constructors’ Championship in Abu Dhabi at the season’s final race. F1 teams develop new cars each season, and McLaren’s MCL39 is the car that drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will drive in 2025.
McLaren’s motto during the F1 75 Live launch at the O2 Arena was “Never stop racing,” and team members spoke highly of the MCL39 while acknowledging that the competition will be tough this season. As the reigning champion, McLaren is a target for all the other teams, especially Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes.
2025 will be especially competitive
When Zak Brown, the McLaren Racing CEO, introduced the MCL39, he referred to the sport’s competitiveness. “We must be realistic that every team will have made progress over the winter. Last year highlighted just how much the grid has closed up, which is a brilliant thing for the sport,” Brown said. “We believe we have made further steps forward since the Championship-winning MCL38 but we won’t know where we sit in the standings until we get into Qualifying in Australia.”
McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella thanked the team for its efforts to get the new car ready and reiterated Brown’s theme. “Whilst we finished last year as Champions, 2024 highlighted how highly competitive the grid is, which is something that will carry through to this year’s Championship. We therefore must keep focused to compete at the front in this tight field. It’s going to be an exciting but incredibly challenging year ahead,” Stella said.
What the McLaren drivers said
During the 2024 F1 season, Lando Norris posed the greatest threat to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the fight for the Driver Championship. Verstappen started the season strong, but Norris, especially, and several other drivers, including McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, won multiple Grand Prix. In the end, Verstappen won the title thanks to his early lead and two brilliant performances.
The McLaren drivers’ combined Championship points were enough for McLaren to win the Constructors Championship, which is the big money prize for any F1 team. This year, Norris and Piastri are both in the hunt for both Championships.
“Having spent my whole Formula 1 career with McLaren, it felt great to be part of winning the Championship with the team, and everyone’s hunger for success remains strong. I’m now hoping to take the momentum gained across the last two seasons to compete for both Championships this year,” Norris said.
Australian Piastri is also positive. “I’ve worked hard in the off-season and approach the new season with a lot of optimism and confidence that it can be another special year for all involved with McLaren,” Piastri said.
