McLaren reveals “bold risks” approach to 2025 F1 car design

mclaren has revealed it is taking some ‘bold risks’ with its 2025 car design as it eyes a Formula 1 title double.

Woking-based team ends 26-year wait for Constructors’ Championship lando norris And oscar piastri Helped clinch the crown at last weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

However, after seeing Norris beaten to the drivers’ crown max verstappenThe focus is clearly on performing better on that front next season.

After a year that far exceeded his initial expectations, McLaren CEO Jack Brown has revealed that the vision for 2025 will be completely different – ​​both in terms of its ambition and mindset.

Speaking exclusively to Autosport, Brown said the team were not satisfied with the pace of their current car and had decided to push the boundaries next year by pursuing some ambitious design ideas.

“We’re going into full force next year,” Brown said.

“I think we’re in a different mindset now in terms of the team’s confidence and the bravery the team is willing to take in the development of next year’s car.

“The team isn’t like: ‘Let’s just make a little change here and there. The car is great.’ We’ve got some stuff in next year’s car that’s more of a ‘daring risk’.

“I think you only get so far if you try to beat everybody, which is kind of the opposite of the mentality we had when we started this year which was like, ‘Let’s be as good as them.’ Now the mentality has changed: ‘Let’s beat everyone’.”

Brown explained that McLaren knows it will have to be on the front foot in 2025 if it is to fend off the threat of Red Bull, ferrari And mercedes, All four teams have won races in the final stages of the campaign.

“We have to develop them, draw them out and build their strategies – as opposed to this mentality of, ‘Just don’t make any mistakes.’ It’s not competitive enough.

“Commercially we are very strong now, and we have two great drivers. This is a huge power.

“But competition is good. mercedes Right there, and Ferrari and Red Bull too, right?

“As soon as you feel like they’re starting to slip a little bit, they break it. So I think next year you will get four teams and any one of them can win both the championships.

After a year in which McLaren had to learn to win again, and admits to letting some opportunities slip through their fingers, Brown says the team has gained a lot of confidence through what they have done.

“I think we’ll be more prepared next year, because I think we came into this year thinking that not in a million years would we be where we are,” he said.

“We weren’t nearly as mentally prepared. We weren’t ready, but we didn’t go in with the mentality that we have now.

“I think we’ll go into next year knowing how difficult it’s going to be, but wanting to win the drivers’ and constructors’ world championships.

“This year it was, ‘Let’s finish in the top three and see if we can get Lando his first win.’ We’ve moved on from that. Now we’ve got two drivers who can compete for the world championship, and let’s go for both.