The controversy deflected attention from McLaren clinching the constructors’ championship for the second year in a row.
It is McLaren’s 10th constructors’ title, moving them clear of Williams in the all-time list into second place behind record-holders Ferrari, who have won it 16 times since the championship’s inception in 1958.
Their victory is one of the earliest times a team has done it. It equals Red Bull’s feat in winning with six races to go in 2023, although that was a 22-race season compared with 24 this year.
It is also not as early in percentage terms as McLaren’s 1988 title with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost and the great McLaren-Honda MP4/4.
But the car has not had the superiority over the field shown by the winners in either of those years.
Red Bull won all but one race, and Verstappen all but three, in 2023. McLaren this year have had the best car, but crucially two drivers able to consistently win with it, while Sergio Perez faded badly after his two early wins that year.
Piastri and Norris have won 12 of the 18 races so far, seven for Piastri and five for Norris. Verstappen has four wins and Russell two.
McLaren’s achievement is remarkable for the fact that it came in a season that was meant to be one of the most competitive in years.
McLaren’s title last year was won at the final race under severe pressure from Ferrari, and as this is the final year of the current regulations, the teams were expected to converge further.
McLaren, though, caught them all on the hop with their MCL39 car, which has proved its superiority through devastating cornering speeds particularly in medium-speed turns, which are the most common on the calendar, and the best tyre usage on the grid.
It is not without its flaws – it does not excel in heavy braking and traction, or over bumps. But it is, as well as being arguably the most beautiful car on the grid with its elegant lines, especially seen from the side or rear three-quarters, also the most effective on average.
The key to this, says Stella, was “innovation”. In suspension design front and rear, which have extreme levels of anti-dive and anti-lift to ensure a stable aerodynamic platform. In aerodynamics. And in cooling – the car has noticeably fewer and smaller vents than others, a key advantage when every extra opening of the bodywork has a cost in aerodynamic efficiency.
Stella said: “There was loads of innovation applied to what was last year’s car, and this required quite a bit of bravery at some stage of the 2024 season to commit to the amount of changes that we have applied to go from the 2024 to the 2025 car.
“I talk about bravery, because our engineering understanding, our engineering execution has been challenged to the point of the leading edge of our knowledge.”
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