McLaren is remaining “realistic” about the team’s prospects in Formula 1 in 2025, despite its optimism that the MCL39 will be stronger than its title-winning predecessor.
The Woking-based became the debut team to reveal its brand-new challenger for the upcoming campaign as the MCL39 was shaken down in a camo livery at Silverstone.
McLaren goes into the season billed as the side the rest have to beat as it won the Constructors’ Championship last time out, ending a title drought dating back to 2008.
The British outfit capitalised on Red Bull’s mid-season demise to usurp it as the benchmark team and repelled a late Ferrari surge to take the crown at the season finale.
However, with the leading quartet all trading victories in the last five races, McLaren is under no illusion about the challenge ahead as it bids to make it a title double in 2025.
“Today is a big milestone in our journey in the fight for the 2025 title,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown said.
“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 must be realistic that every team will have made progress over the winter. Last year highlighted just how much the grid has closed up, which is a brilliant thing for F1.”
Despite his caution, Brown addressed that McLaren is convinced that its “brake risk” approach to the MCL39’s car design over the winter has delivered positives gains.
“We believe we have made further steps forward since the Championship-winning MCL38, but we won’t know where we sit in the standings until we get into qualifying in Australia,” he added.
“We’re a team that never stops racing and we’ll be giving it our all to bring both championships back to Woking.”
McLaren anticipating tight 2025 title battle
Meanwhile, Andrea Stella, who has overseen McLaren’s remarkable revival since being appointed team boss in late 2022, has concurred with Brown’s stance.
The Italian has warned that the squad’s achievements last season provide no guarantee that it will be as competitive once the new campaign begins next month.
“We are excited to see the MCL39 hit the track for the first time at Silverstone Circuit today,” Stella expressed.
“Whilst we finished last year as champions, 2024 highlighted how highly competitive the grid is, which is something that will carry through to this year’s championship.
“We therefore must keep focused to compete at the front in this tight field. It’s going to be an exciting but incredibly challenging year ahead.
“The team have worked extremely hard to prepare as best as possible for the start of the season.
“We learned a lot from our battles last year, so we take this and use it to push our goal for the year.
“My thanks go to the entire team for their work to get the car ready for today, as well as our colleagues at Mercedes HPP for their continued collaboration.
“We now focus on the work ahead to ensure we maximise our time in testing before the first competitive session in Australia.”
READ MORE – McLaren launches 2025 F1 car in special camo livery at Silverstone
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