McLaren has insisted the team’s efforts to win both championships in 2025 will not compromise its work on Formula 1’s impending regulation overhaul next season.
The Woking-based squad ended a title drought dating back to 2008 last month as Lando Norris’ win in Abu Dhabi delivered its first Constructors’ success since 1998.
But while McLaren wants to go one better with a championship double, the team is among the group at the sharp end that has a daunting crossover to contend with.
The rules now permit sides to use wind tunnels to work on the all-new 2026 cars, creating a conundrum about how much resource and time to commit to this season.
That poses an even larger challenge to the leading quartet – McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes – who are all expected to retain ambitions to win the title in 2025.
McLaren, though, will be in an even more disadvantageous position as the reigning champions now have less aero testing time under F1’s sliding scale than its rivals.
But even with a vast revamp on the horizon, McLaren has asserted that more success won’t be attainable in 2025 without marked changes to the MCL38’s successor.
“I think there’s an opportunity to win a championship in 2025 and in 2026, and of course, we want to do both,” McLaren Engineering Technical Director Neil Houldey told Autosport.
“You’re not going to win 2025 without [development]. You’ve got competition of Red Bull, Mercedes are going to have a quick car. You’ve got Ferrari who are quick.
“There’s no reason why these teams aren’t going to be generating a lot of performance next season, and we’ve got to be there and be doing the same if we want to win the championship, which is obviously the aim.”
McLaren going all-in on 2025 success
Despite Red Bull’s claim that it was encountering diminishing returns when it won all but one race across a dominant 2023, McLaren has succeeded in raising the bar.
But Houldey has explained that McLaren still has scope to improve and that has guided the team’s decision to go all-in on 2025 rather than pivot attention to the reset.
“At the moment, the focus for 2025 is everything,” he added.
“And actually that’s not just about the car, that’s about the whole team. We know that the car can go faster. We can develop the car further.
“We know as a team every area can find ways of being more effective, more efficient, generating more and more performance in their own individual groups as well.
“So 2025 for us is the same as any other year, and an opportunity to show what McLaren are now capable of doing.”
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