McLaren’s new priority? Why F1 title defeat won’t crush Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri

The fate of the F1 2025 world championship is perhaps less pressing to Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris than it may seem on the surface.

One of the two looks certain to win the title, even allowing for the challenge Max Verstappen has thrown down in recent races, in what would be McLaren’s first drivers’ title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

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For one of the McLaren duo, it will be the crowning moment of their career; for the other, bitter disappointment.

And adding a degree of urgency and pressure to this year’s crown is the rationale that, with sweeping rule changes coming into play for F1 2026, this could be not only the best, but the only chance that either Piastri or Norris have at a world championship.

McLaren has been the dominant team over the past 18 months; were it not for a slow start to F1 2024, it would likely have commanded the final two years of the ground effect era.

In Singapore, it wrapped up its second successive Constructors’ Championship, something it hasn’t done since Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger raced for the squad in the early 1990s.

McLaren clearly understands these current regulations and, through that, was able to engineer itself a telling advantage.

But that has begun to erode. Verstappen’s emergence as an outside contender for the title is clear evidence of that.

Or is it?

Could Verstappen’s current surge instead be a further sign of McLaren’s strength and confidence?

It’s a counterintuitive thought. In recent races, McLaren has not had the same advantage over the field as it enjoyed earlier in the year, and that’s somehow a sign of strength? Clearly, I’ve lost my marbles.

Verstappen has qualified ahead of both McLarens on eight occasions this season, but the orange team’s true party piece has been its race pace.

Early in the season, it enjoyed a strong tyre advantage, the MCL39 capable of prolonging the performance of its Pirellis far better than anyone else, especially in hot conditions, leading to some outlandish explanations.

From water in tyres to phase-changing material in the brake assembly, the sum of it was that McLaren’s rivals were scrambling for a solution.

And, on evidence of recent races, it’s fair to suggest they’ve done that successfully.

Mercedes was the fastest car in Singapore, while Red Bull and Max Verstappen were the class of the field in both Azerbaijan and Monza – the latter perhaps an outlier given the relative lack of tyre degradation at the venue.

That run of three races has, however, been McLaren’s worst of the season. It hasn’t had one of its drivers on the top step of the podium since the Dutch Grand Prix. The all-mighty, all-conquering McLaren team no longer has an edge.

There’s an adage that goes ‘to stand still in F1 is to go backwards’.

And therein, perhaps, lies the explanation to the current situation. McLaren has, comparatively, stood still while its rivals have continued to push on.

Perhaps the increased competitiveness we’re seeing at the front of the field is less a reflection of McLaren’s dominance easing, but a sign that it was clearly confident enough with its position that it turned its attention to F1 2026 earlier than its rivals.

And while there have been development parts, none have been significant nor transformative – certainly not like Red Bull appeared to introduce in Italy.

Does that not reinforce the notion that McLaren has switched its priorities?

Next year, significant regulatory changes will come into play. Gone are the ground effect cars of today, replaced with flat-bottomed designs boasting moveable aerodynamics and an increased reliance on electrical energy from the power unit.

In McLaren’s case, the Mercedes power unit.

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Of the manufacturers at play, Mercedes has a proven track record of success when designing F1 engines; the German marque dominated under the previous regulation era with its factory team, and it has been again competitive in the current period with McLaren, a customer team, no less.

Suggestion within the paddock is that the Mercedes donk is looking good, though how objective that observation is…

Nobody at this point knows how any manufacturer will fare next season, but on the balance of probability, Mercedes must be there or thereabouts.

And as for the chassis side of the equation, by switching its focus early, teams have given themselves not only greater time but increased resources to develop their all-new machine.

It’s why some have sacrificed the current campaign with a view to starting F1 2026 with a bang. And McLaren appears to be among that number.

But that’s not the same for everyone.

It’s a delicate balancing act, especially for the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari as they scrap over second in the Constructors’ Championship – a result that could be worth several millions of dollars to either.

There is therefore a vested interest in continuing to develop while McLaren, with the title wrapped up and the purchase order for a new tin of trophy polish submitted, has no such issues. It can look to the future with certainty.

So while we see the current on-track performance perhaps sliding backwards into the pack, perhaps it’s a by product of a decision to switch focus early – the ultimate sign of confidence, even if it wasn’t shouted from the rooftops.

Either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri will almost certainly be world champion this year.

For one of them, it will be the most glorious accomplishment of their career.

But for the other, the disappointment will perhaps not be as crushing as it might otherwise have been – not because the world title doesn’t actually mean that much to them, but because they know what McLaren has been doing behind the scenes, and they know it has a jump on the pack ahead of F1 2026.

Of course, both McLaren pilots want to secure the title this year.

Naturally, this could be their best chance at a drivers’ title, but only until the next one, and McLaren seems to be putting itself in the box seat for a strong start in F1 2026.

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