Five defining moments in McLaren’s dominant 2025 F1 constructors’ title run

McLaren have won the 2025 F1 constructors’ championship with six races to spare at the Singapore Grand Prix.

It’s been a dominant campaign for the Woking-based outfit as they add another title to their long list of F1 accolades. They’re now on 10 constructors’ titles - six behind Ferrari in the all-time record books.

Since pre-season testing in Bahrain, it’s looked likely McLaren would win another constructors’ championship. Their sheer dominance has been a surprise, given how close last season ended between McLaren and Ferrari.

Here are five defining moments during McLaren’s 2025 F1 constructors’ title run.

Ominous in F1 testing

While pre-season testing never gives a true read on the pecking order heading into a new season, Lando Norris’ race run on day two in Bahrain caught everyone’s attention. A direct comparison between Norris, Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli highlighted how impressive the MCL39 was early on.

This was backed up by Oscar Piastri on day three of testing, who convincingly outpaced George Russell during their respective race simulations. Across a full race simulation, Norris was approximately 0.6s faster than Leclerc and Antonelli.

While the usual testing caveats applied regarding fuel loads and engine modes, McLaren’s impressive tyre degradation in sweltering temperatures stood out. In hindsight, McLaren’s advantage was genuine, as they started the 2025 F1 season in dominant fashion.

Confirming their pace in Australia

McLaren dominated qualifying at Albert Park as Norris stormed to pole position ahead of Piastri. Their nearest challenger was Max Verstappen, who qualified four-tenths off Norris.

In the end, Norris won the Grand Prix by just 0.8s as he came under pressure in the final stint of the race. However, McLaren showed a glimpse of their true pace during the middle part of the race when they were running on worn intermediates.

The MCL39’s ability to manage its tyres was mighty, and by Lap 29, the McLaren pair were running over 16 seconds ahead of Verstappen. It was a worrying sign for the competition after the opening round of the season.

Piastri stepping up

Heading into the 2025 F1 season, the big question mark was around Piastri - and whether he could raise his performance. Norris dismantled Piastri across every metric in 2024.

Norris won the 2024 qualifying head-to-head 20–4 and convincingly beat Piastri in the standings. Even if Piastri had remained at his 2024 level of performance, McLaren’s significant car advantage meant winning the constructors’ championship was probably always inevitable.

To his credit, Piastri has found another level, highlighted by the fact he claimed five wins in the opening nine races. Heading into the final stretch of the season, Piastri remains top of the standings - and favourite to take the drivers’ title this year.

Overcoming ‘flexi-wings’

Whenever one team dominates in F1, there’s always scrutiny and scepticism about why they’re so quick. This was no different with McLaren.

For the Spanish Grand Prix, the FIA announced that there would be a clampdown on flexible front wings. More stringent tests were introduced.

McLaren caught the headlines for their flexible rear wing at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It was thought that their innovative design played a key role in Piastri beating Charles Leclerc to victory.

McLaren insisted that the clampdown would have no impact on their overall pace. Norris confirmed after the Spanish GP that the changes had “changed nothing” for McLaren.

“We have a lot of good competition,” Norris said. “There was a lot of complaints about our car, and they introduced this TD and changed nothing.

“The team have done a very good job to just give us a good all-round car and the best car on the grid.

“So, we’re very proud to be able to go and drive those cars every weekend. So, it’s a credit to the team that we have to give day in and day out.”

Team harmony

Despite the two McLaren drivers going head-to-head for the drivers’ title, harmony has been maintained within the team. McLaren boss Andrea Stella deserves immense credit for how he’s managed the team - ensuring both drivers continue to put McLaren first, rather than their own interests.

There have been very few flashpoints between the pair. Norris collided with Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix as they battled over fourth place.

Norris immediately apologised, and the incident was quickly forgotten. McLaren were heavily criticised for their use of team orders at Monza.

A slow pit stop for Norris allowed Piastri to jump him. To make things “fair”, McLaren used team orders to swap them back around. Again, things didn’t boil over.

While this decision could come back to bite them, McLaren have done an incredible job of maintaining a positive atmosphere within the team so far. That might change now that the constructors’ title has been wrapped up.