Small errors by McLaren leave the door open for exciting 2025 F1 title fight
FINAL CORNER, CHEQUERED FLAG: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's errors this season will leave the door open for title race upset
McLaren are reaping the benefit of two top drivers in the constructors’ battle but it’s leaving the door open for a close title fight for the drivers’ championship.
The 2021 title battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton went down as one for the ages, with two absolute greats going toe-to-toe every race right down to Abu Dhabi. Disregarding how anyone feels about that particular finale, it was still utterly remarkable to watch the pair, with so little to choose between them as they constantly rose to the occasion.
Verstappen, fighting for his first championship, only finished outside the top two for his DNFs in Azerbaijan, Britain, Italy and his ninth place with half a car in Hungary. Meanwhile, Hamilton, a defending seven-time champion, came seventh in Monaco, third in Belgium (not a real race that year), fifth in Turkey and 15th in Azerbaijan, along with a DNF in Italy. Their relentless consistency left them a cut above everyone else, showcasing a level of perfection under immense pressure we’re not seeing in this year’s title fight.
Four races into the 2025 championship and small errors are starting to define this battle at the top. Given McLaren’s obvious, albeit minor, advantage over the rest of the pack it should be a simple shootout between Oscar Piastri, race winner in Bahrain and China, and Lando Norris, victor in Australia. However, Verstappen and George Russell are still close enough to feel like they’re still within a fighting chance.
After four races in 2023 and 2024, Verstappen led third place Fernando Alonso 95 points to 55, whereas that gap to third is now just eight points. Russell in fourth is just 14 behind, while Hamilton had just over half the Dutchman’s tally with 48. It was a similar story in 2024. Even though the Red Bull driver failed to finish in Australia, his margin to third was still 77 points to 59, with fourth sitting on 55. Verstappen’s perfection ensured that there was no title fight to be had at all.
Granted, it’s possible that the Red Bull’s advantage over the field was bigger then than McLaren’s is now, but there’s no denying that small errors by both Norris and Piastri have kept the door open. Verstappen ended up needing to be perfect in 2024 as the team’s edge on the chasing pack eroded from the sixth race in Miami. There’s no telling if a similar story will play out this year, but McLaren should be worried in the event that their gap to the teams behind is eaten into.
Piastri and Norris have both done well this season, particularly in taking advantage by converting pole positions into victories. However, their mistakes on Saturdays have caused each other to drop points, and this closer driver pairing should lead to an exciting championship fight even if McLaren do keep their lead on everyone else for the entirety of the year. Sergio Perez offered no such threat to Verstappen, exactly how Red Bull wanted it.
This worked in McLaren’s favour in 2024 as they won the constructors’ championship, and they should comfortably retain that title this year, highlighting the advantage of having two strong drivers instead of a clear no.1 and no.2. But when it comes to the individual drivers, the door is still open to the likes of Verstappen and Russell in these early stages.
Both have achieved wins over the McLaren drivers this season too, showing that they can be beaten. Verstappen’s drive in Japan in particular was a standout victory, but Russell was also excellent in finishing ahead of Norris in Bahrain, a track with characteristics that far suited the Woking outfit instead of Mercedes.
The upcoming race at Imola will make for an interesting marker in the season, as the first European race is often where teams will bring their first major upgrade packages in a given season. Spain will also prove a crucial moment in the campaign, as that is where the FIA’s new technical directive on flexi-wings will take effect, which could hit McLaren more than their rivals, if Red Bull are to be believed.
With the rules set for a major change in 2026, this is a chance these drivers may not get again for quite some time, if ever, to fight for a title. That is a lot of pressure to be under, and the title fight could be defined by whoever cuts out these small errors and finds the perfection of a champion.
Prediction corner
I’m 0 for 2 on predictions this year after Tsunoda missed out on Q3 in Japan. So, for the upcoming Saudi Arabia Grand Prix I’m going to predict that McLaren will not achieve a 1-2.
Quote of the week
"No, I think just focus on commentating,” said Verstappen to Sky Sports’ David Croft on Thursday in Saudi Arabia after being asked if he was considering leaving Red Bull.
“I'll focus on driving. And then, you don't need to think about any other scenarios."
Race Ratings - Japan & Bahrain
Japan was simply put quite a boring race, and a bit of a worry for Suzuka as it’s struggled to deliver the excitement for a number of years now. The tyre situation didn’t help, nor did the colder weather, but absolutely nothing happened in this one. 1/5.
Meanwhile, Bahrain was a stark contrast due to the various strategies deployed by the teams, as well as the better layout for wheel-to-wheel action. However, the safety car did suck the life out of it a little. 3/5.
Driver Power Rankings
We’re now four races into the season, and we’re seeing a great variety of different drivers all putting in strong performances up and down the grid.
Here is my ranking for Japan:
1. Max Verstappen. 2. Charles Leclerc. 3. Isack Hadjar. 4. Ollie Bearman. 5. Lando Norris. 6. Alex Albon. 7. Andrea Kimi Antonelli. 8. George Russell. 9. Oscar Piastri. 10. Fernando Alonso.
And Bahrain:
1. George Russell. 2. Oscar Piastri. 3. Pierre Gasly. 4. Charles Leclerc. 5. Esteban Ocon. 6. Max Verstappen. 7. Ollie Bearman. 8. Yuki Tsunoda. 9. Lewis Hamilton. 10. Lando Norris
Finally, this is what my personal DPR Championship looks like (applying points to the top 10 like in a Grand Prix for my ranking at each race):
Storyline to follow - Saudi Arabia
Red Bull have a new upgrade this weekend, and Leclerc has previously hinted that Ferrari’s Bahrain upgrade should be more noticeable in Jeddah, so it will be worth keeping an eye on how drivers for both teams fare this weekend, particularly in what they say about their car. Both teams will be desperate it helps close the gap to McLaren somewhat.