McLaren fire first shot to rivals with ‘title challenger’ MCL39 launched

McLaren’s hopes for the new MCL39 car for F1 2025 were set in stone by Lando Norris in the moments after the last race of 2024.

Crossing the line to win the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Norris’s fourth victory of 2024 secured McLaren’s first Constructors’ Championship in 26 years.

Will the MCL39 end McLaren’s long wait for an F1 Drivers’ title?

Yet as he celebrated the success over team radio, it wasn’t long before, in true racing driver fashion, Norris’s mind turned from the present to the future; from the collective achievement to his personal ambition.

“Thank you so much. It’s been a special year.”

And then a pause.

“Next year’s gonna be my year too.”

That statement generated quite some interest at the time, not least because it was delivered with a confidence – a certainty – few have associated with Cuddly Lando.

It has come to reflect how far both team and driver have come, how they have gradually grown in stature, over the last 12 months.

McLaren may have ended their long wait for a teams’ title last season, yet there is a convincing argument that they were flattered slightly by the problems of their closest rivals in 2024.

If Red Bull had not lost their way so dramatically with the development of the RB20, and had the team not been left with one arm tied behind their back as a result of Sergio Perez’s struggles, there is every chance that the Constructors’ Championship race would have been a very different story.

Likewise, what if Ferrari – just 14 points short of McLaren come the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi – had not wasted the summer months fighting to regain control of porpoising after a poorly executed upgrade?

The Constructors’ trophy may be back in Woking for the first time in 1998, yet for a more accurate indication of where McLaren really stand look no further than Norris’s final deficit of 63 points to Verstappen in the Drivers’ standings.

All those potential victories turned into defeats? The failure to ever really erode Verstappen’s points lead despite having a faster car for the majority of the season?

These were sure signs of a team plunged unexpectedly into a battle for which they were not quite ready.

It should be different in 2025.

Go deeper: How people power inspired McLaren’s F1 resurgence

? Why Zak Brown deserves more credit for McLaren title glory

? Who exactly are McLaren? Liam Lawson’s ‘bullsh*t’ national anthem claim explored

As written in PlanetF1.com’s conclusions from Abu Dhabi 2024, McLaren and Norris – Oscar Piastri too – will be better for the experience of last year.

They will be stronger. Sharper. More experienced. More relaxed. More poised. More prepared for the unique scrutiny and pressures that come along with a title fight.

And it may just prove in time that the true value of 2024 was not in the silverware at the end of the season, but the character-building effect of those lost wins and botched team orders calls.

If there has been a glaring weakness at McLaren over recent years, it is that their winter development has lacked the potency of their in-season upgrades.

At the launch of both their 2023 and 2024 cars, the team admitted to missing certain development targets during the off season, ceding crucial ground to the opposition in the first few races.

When both cars were finally transformed into serious contenders, at Austria 2023 and Miami 2024, it was already too late to do anything about Verstappen and Red Bull.

Not this time, it seems.

The launch of the MCL39 on Thursday was defined by the confidence with which McLaren presented the new ‘title challenger’ (their words), with minimal attempts to play down expectations for 2025.

“Today is a big milestone in our journey in the fight for the 2025 title,” said Zak Brown, declaring that the team have found “further steps” in performance over the winter.

“It’s great to get our Championship challenger, the MCL39, on track for the first time and to launch the culmination of the team’s hard work.

“We’re a team that never stops racing and we’ll be giving it our all to bring both Championships back to Woking.”

And what of Cuddly Lando himself, who by his own admission tends to see the negatives more than the positives and whose own self belief and resilience have been remorselessly questioned for some years now?

Asked if he is confident heading into the new season, Norris announced that he is now a believer too.

“I am,” he said.

“I’ve always been a guy who never wants to believe in hype of things. I’m always kind of a ‘seeing is believing’ kind of guy, especially when it comes to things that I’m doing personally.

“So proving to myself last year that I can go and win races, and I can dominate a weekend, and I can fight against the best in the world, I needed to prove to myself that I was capable of doing that. I did it last year.

“I would say I’m confident, which is a rare thing for me to be.

“Definitely not overconfident. I’m definitely not like: ‘I’ve got this and I’m going to nail everything.’

“But I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been, both physically, mentally and everything, and I think we are as well as a team.

“I think the expectation is there, but the determination is also there.”

At his best, there were times last year when Norris resembled 2020/21-spec Verstappen – a highly talented driver maturing before the world’s eyes, growing increasingly fluent in the language of winning and looking for all the world like F1’s next World Champion.

Only for the high-pressure moments to reveal the lingering cracks lurking just beneath the surface.

The big difference this time? Verstappen will not have a 60-point headstart to play with in 2025. That makes things a helluva lot easier.

And if the MCL39 can merely consolidate the position McLaren ended last year, let alone pull further clear of the rest, the chance of a lifetime awaits for Norris.

If he wasn’t ready last year, he’d better be now.

It’s time.

Read next: Carlos Sainz to Williams: Five reasons why surprise F1 2025 move isn’t as crazy as it sounds