Max Verstappen has proclaimed that McLaren‘s unrivalled advantage in Formula 1 is not exclusively down to how the team’s 2025 car interacts with the current tyres.
McLaren has been considered the benchmark team since an upgrade package at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix propelled it to the Constructors’ Championship last term.
The Woking-based squad has built on that success to trounce the opposition in 2025, winning 11 times in 14 races to all but ensure that it will celebrate a title double.
The intrigue regarding McLaren’s dominance has centred on how the MCL39 can get the tyres into the optimum operating window without suffering from overheating.
Ex-Red Bull boss Christian Horner described the phenomenon as “quite strange”, as unsubstantiated theories – which the FIA cleared – about water cooling resurfaced.
However, Verstappen has highlighted that McLaren has also proven to be untouchable in corners taken at a medium-speed range on both a single lap and in race trim.
Asked where McLaren’s car is better than the Red Bull RB21 at his disposal, Verstappen told media including Motorsport Week: “Well, it’s definitely better on its tyres. It can keep the tyres alive a lot nicer. You can clearly see that in the wet on Intermediates, where if you have good tyre management, it even comes out more on that tyre.
“Because the tyre is more fragile, it overheats even faster and they definitely have that very well under control.
“At the same time, I think their medium speed performance is incredible compared to, I would say, everyone else on the grid.
“The rotation that they have on the front axle without losing the rear is something that is also quite incredible to see. That’s something that we have to try and achieve.”
McLaren content with chosen compromise
The sole area where McLaren continues to remain vulnerable to Red Bull is on high-speed circuits, with Verstappen having prevailed at Suzuka and Imola this season.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella, however, has suggested that he is content that the team has struck the ideal compromise, as he concurred with Verstappen’s sentiment.
“It can be answered just by looking at the GPS data,” Stella quipped when questioned on Verstappen’s comments.
“When you look at the speed comparison with some other teams, the data says that McLaren can generate the highest mid-corner speed in medium-speed corners.
“So, I think the assessment of Max is correct.
“We still have our weak points. If you go on a very high-speed corner like Copse [at Silverstone], for instance, or Pouhon [at Spa-Francorchamps], we are not the fastest car.
“Likewise, probably in very low speed, we are not the fastest car.
“But the majority of corners in a championship happen to be medium-speed corners, and certainly in that range, our car is, data in hand, the best.”
READ MORE – How McLaren has avoided development hurdles to dominate F1 2025
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