The commonly held view is that Lando Norris lost out to Max Verstappen in the drivers’ championship last year because the Red Bull driver benefited from a massively superior car at the start of the season, built up an enormous points lead, and McLaren then had to take all the risks in trying to eat into it. At least, that argument was used partly to explain why McLaren kept making mistakes.
Well, the championships have been reset now. It is McLaren who have the fastest car at the start of the year. And yet a similar pattern is emerging.
Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix through his own brilliance, no arguments there. His “magical” final lap in qualifying on Saturday – so good even Fernando Alonso was cooing about it afterwards, saying the Dutchman was “the only driver” in the sport capable of outperforming his car to such a degree – gave him the platform. And he made zero mistakes in the race.
Verstappen got off to a good start, keeping the McLarens at bay in the first stint. He correctly ignored McLaren’s ‘dummy call’ when the Woking team suggested over the radio that they might bring Norris in for an earlier-than-expected pitstop. He held firm when Norris tried to squeeze past him when they did make their one stop.
And he then drove “flat to to finish” in the words of team principal Christian Horner, who compared his driver afterwards to Mr Motivator. “Max has been absolutely outstanding this weekend,” Horner said. “The hard work was done yesterday but he was inch perfect in the race.
“Max drove the wheels off the car. We worked hard to give him a car he was able to extract the most out of. He is like Mr Motivator for us.”
And yet. As brilliant as Verstappen was in Suzuka there is the lingering feeling that McLaren ought really to have had a one-two in Japan. They ought to have had a one-two in Australia, too (where Piastri spun and finished ninth). They ought to have had a one-two in the sprint race in China.
Somehow, small mistakes – driver errors, strategic errors, setup choices – have allowed Verstappen to move to just one point behind Norris in the drivers’ championship.
"Cheeky" 📻👀
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 6, 2025
A big lock-up from Lando on the last lap 💨 pic.twitter.com/HEVFz9gFA7
What could they have done differently in Suzuka? Without the pace to overtake Verstappen on track, their only option was to try something with strategy but they decided against doing that, much to the disgust of Jacques Villeneuve. The 1997 champion, on punditry duty for Sky Sports, was aghast at their lack of ambition, asking why they brought Norris in one lap after his team mate Oscar Piastri rather than trying to offset their strategies. “Why not take a gamble, you have two drivers out there?” he demanded. “It’s like they’re trying not to win.”
Damon Hill, too, raised a quizzical eyebrow on X afterwards. “Interesting comments on McLaren’s strategy. Too predictable? Too defensive? To ...
