McLaren thinks it can grab 2025 F1 chance without sacrificing 2026

mclaren Formula 1 teams are confident they can bid to defend their world championships without damaging their chances of a major rules rescheduling for 2026.

Since January, teams have been allowed to enter their 2026 car designs into the wind tunnel, giving them an extra headache as they also approach the upcoming campaign.

Under F1’s budget limits, and with further air restrictions depending on a team’s position in the Constructors’ Championship, squads will have to carefully evaluate the amount of resources they are still willing to invest in the final year of the current regulation cycle. Are. It is also striking out new rules to start the 2026 era on the front foot.

For teams in the midfield, this option appears to be relatively simple, as there is a huge advantage to throwing in the kitchen sink in 2026 and then making a huge leap forward.

But for teams already fighting at the front, where lap time advantages are becoming even more difficult to achieve due to the diminishing returns of these maturing regulations, the choice is more difficult.

McLaren, which claimed its first Constructors’ crown in 26 years last year, is adamant it can have its cake and eat it too, without leaving anything on the table for 2026 with its 2025 car. Also pursuing good overall profits.

Engineering technical director Neil Holladay told Motorsport.com it is under no illusion that it will somehow be able to take its foot off in 2025, just because it peaked in 2024.

“I think there’s an opportunity to win a championship in 2025 and 2026 and, of course, we want to do both,” Holladay said. “You’re not going to win 2025 without (Vikas). You have competition from Red Bull, mercedes Going to get a quick car. you have got ferrari Which are fast.

“There’s no reason why these teams can’t perform very well next season, and we’ve got to be out there and do that if we want to win the championship, which is obviously the aim.”

Equally, having the best car as the regulations move towards the end of its life cycle does not mean that McLaren has run out of things to improve, as it finds the opposite to be true.

The Woking team had the best car overall in the second half of 2024, but was not as dominant as it has sometimes been portrayed.

“Right now, the focus is on 2025,” Holladay said. “And really it’s not just about the car, it’s about the whole team. We know the car can go faster. We can develop the car further.”

“We know that as a team every sector can find ways to be more effective, more efficient, as well as generate greater performance in their individual groups. So for us 2025 is the same as any other year , and this is an opportunity to show what McLaren is now capable of doing.”